Raipur: Counting of votes for the Chhattisgarh Assembly polls got underway amid tight security at 8 a.m on Sunday with the early trends showing Congress marginally ahead of the BJP.

While Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel is maintaining a lead in Patan, senior BJP leader and former Chief Minister Raman Singh is also leading in Rajnandgaon.

The elections in the 90-member Assembly were held in two phases - on November 7 and 17 across 33 districts.

A total of 1,181 candidates' fate will be decided in the next few hours.

Counting is being carried out under heavy security especially in Naxal-hit districts which witnessed a violence at several places during both phases of elections.

(IANS)