Shimla/UNI: In a close race, the opposition Congress was ahead in 33 seats, with the ruling BJP leading in 30 constituencies in the initial counting trends on Thursday for the Himachal Pradesh Assembly polls.

Independents are leading in three seats, with trends available for 66 constituencies in the 68-member state Assembly.

Among the leading BJP candidates are Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, his cabinet members Ram Lal Markanda, Vikram Singh and Sukh Ram Chaudhary. However, four cabinet ministers Suresh Bhardwaj, Sarveen Chaudhary, Virender Kanwar and Rakesh Pathania are trailing.

Assembly speaker Vipin Singh Parmar. and Deputy Speaker Hansraj, both in the fray on BJP ticket, are leading.

Former state Congress President Sukhvinder Sukh is leading from Nadaun assembly seat of Hamirpur district.

The Congress has established leads in six of the eight seats of Shimla district.

The BJP contestants are in the top position in Jubbal Kotkhai and Chopal seats of the district.

The son of former minister Narendra Bragta, Chetan Bragta, is leading over four-time Congress legislator Rohit Thakur in Jubbal Kotkhai.

BJP's sitting MLA Balbir Verma has established a lead from Chopal.

In Solan district, the In Solan district Congress is leading in Solan, Arki, Doon and Kasuli assembly seats.

In Sirmaur district, BJP candidates are now in pole position in Pachhad, Paonta Sahib and Silai seats.

Congress and BJP candidates are leading in two seats each in Bilaspur district.

The three Independent candidates are leading in Hamirpur, Dehra and Nalagarh. CPI(M) MLA Rakesh Singh is trailing in Theog.

Thirty five seats are needed to reach the majority mark in the hill state where voting for all 68 seats was carried out in a single phase on November 12.