Rajnandgaon, Apr 16 : Chhattisgarh’s ruling Congress emerged victorious in the Khairagarh Assembly by-election as its candidate Yashoda Verma was declared elected on Saturday defeating her nearest rival Mr Komal Janghel (principal-opposition BJP) by a margin of approximately 20,000 votes. The result was announced after 21 rounds of counting and Ms Verma maintained a lead right from the beginning. As is generally the case in this state, the Congress and the BJP were in an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation. About 77 per cent of an electorate exceeding two lakh exercised their franchise. In the 2018 Vidhan Sabha election, Mr Devwrat Singh (Janta Congress Chhattisgarh) won from Khairagarh. The by-poll was necessitated by his recent demise. Mr Singh also represented Rajnandgaon as a Congress member in the 14th Lok Sabha. Team-AC