Baghel's deputy loses by 94 votes, 8 other ministers bite dust

Nine out of 13 ministers in the Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government in Chhattisgarh have suffered defeat in the state assembly polls.

They include Deputy Chief Minister T S Singh Deo and home minister Tamradhwaj Sahu, both key leaders who were chief ministerial aspirants after the Congress' thumping win in the 2018 polls, and state unit chief Deepak Baij.

Singh Deo, who polled 90,686 votes, lost from Ambikapur by 94 votes against Bharatiya Janata Party's Rajesh Agrawal (90,780 votes).

In Durg Rural seat, BJP candidate Lalit Chandrakar defeated Tamradhwaj Sahu by 16,642 votes.

Agriculture minister Ravindra Choubey lost by 5,196 votes in Saja against BJP's Ishwar Sahu.

In Kawardha seat, BJP's Vijay Sharma trounced minister Mohammad Akbar, another influential Congress leader, by 39,592 votes.

Other ministers who bit the dust are Shivkumar Dahariya (Arang), Guru Rudra Kumar (Nawagarh), Amarjeet Bhagat (Sitapur), Mohan Markam (Kondgaon) and Jai Singh Agrawal (Korba).

Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel retained his seat Patan, while his cabinet colleagues Umesh Patel (Kharsia), Anila Bhendia (Dondi Lohara) and Kawasi Lakhma (Konta) managed to win their seats.

State Congress chief Deepak Baij lost in Chitrakot by a margin of 8,370 votes against BJP's Vinayak Goyal.

BJP defied exit poll predictions to register a massive victory in Chhattisgarh by winning 54 seats in the 90-member assembly and reducing the Congress to 35.

The Gondwana Gantantra Party won one seat.