Ranchi, Dec 23 (IANS): Incumbent Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das is facing a tough fight against his former Cabinet colleague and independent candidate Saryu Roy in Jamshedpur East constituency.

Das is trailing by over 4,000 votes against his nearest rival Roy. Das has been winning this seat since 1995.

Das, a non-tribal leader of a tribal-dominated state, is leading the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s campaign to retain power. However, Roy is giving him a tough fight on this seat and has actually edged past him by a margin of over 4,000 votes.

The latest trend showed Roy securing 23,517 votes against Das with 18,874 votes from Jamshedpur East, a key constituency in the 81-member Assembly which went to polls in five phases from November 30 to December 20.

The counting of votes began at 8 a.m. on Monday. The 'Steel City' Jamshedpur constituency covers one of two parts of Jamshedpur, a planned industrial town established by Tata Group's founder Jamsetji Tata.

The town's economy largely runs on the steel plant and allied activities. Das, Jharkhand's only Chief Minister to complete a five-year tenure, Das is fighting to retain a seat he has held since the state's first election in 2005 after it was carved out of Bihar in the year 2000.