Raipur: The ruling party Congress candidates are ahead of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate by 19,987 votes in the counting of votes for the by-election to the dead assembly constituency in Chhattisgarh. The state Chief Electoral Officer's office officials informed on Tuesday that counting of votes was started in the official Gurukul Vidyalaya at 8 am this morning for the dead assembly constituency. Polling for the seat was held on November 3. He said, according to the information received so far, the nine-round count was counted by K.K. Dhruv of the Congress. Dhruv is ahead of 19,987 votes from BJP candidate Gambhir Singh. Officials have informed that Dhruv has received 37,106 votes so far and Singh has received 17,119 votes. Counting of votes is continuing. Eight candidates are in the fray for the dead assembly constituency but the main match is being seen between the Congress's Dhruv and the BJP's Gambhir Singh. The dead assembly seat under Gaurela-Pendra-Marthe district is reserve for the scheduled tribe. Since the formation of the new state in 2000, the seat was occupied by the Jogi family. The seat is vacant since Ajit Jogi's death on May 29. Also Read- MP Bypoll: BJP candidate Dr Prabhu Ram Chaudhary wins from Sanchi Assembly. Bihar elections: BJP's Sanjay Sarvagi wins from Darbhanga seat Bihar elections: Pushpam Priya Bags Less Votes Than NOTA