Raipur: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today (May 13, 2004) got a boost in Chhattisgarh as it won five Lok Sabha seats and maintained a lead in five constituencies while Congress could bag only one seat.

Of the five seats declared, BJP won the Sarguja, Bastar, Raigarh, Raipur and Bilaspur seats while Congress has wrested the prestigious Mahasamund Lok Sabha seat.

In Sarguja, BJP State president Nand Kumar Sai defeated Khel Sai Singh of Congress by a margin of 1,03,452 votes. Party's Vishnu Dev Sai won the Raigarh seat defeating Rampukar Singh (Cong) by a margin of 74,000 votes.

Elections 2004-Where is India heading...
Political Parties in India

In Bilaspur and Bastar, sitting BJP MPs Punnulal Mohle and Baliram Kashyap retained their respective seats by defeating Basant Pahare (INC) by 81,553 votes and Mahendra Karma (INC) by 54,373 respectively.

In Raipur, sitting BJP MP Ramesh Bais defeated veteran Congress leader Shyama Charan Shukla by 1,29,519 votes. Bais polled 3,76,029 votes, while Shukla polled 2,46,510 votes in a multi-cornered contest.

Former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi, now recovering in a Delhi hospital after a near-fatal accident on April 11, defeated V C Shukla, who recently joined the saffron party, by a margin on 80,000 votes in Mahasamund Lok Sabha seat.