Bypolls: SP extends lead in UP's Gorakhpur

As per the current trends, both the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are witnessing a close contest between the parties for three Lok Sabha seats and two assembly seats.

In Uttar Pradesh, Samjawadi Party (SP) is leading in both Lok Sabha Seats.

In Gorakhpur, the SP's Praveen Kumar Nishad has furthered his lead by 7139 votes, as Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Upendra Dutt Shukla closely follows second, after the sixth round of counting.

In Phulpur, Samajwadi Party's Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel is leading by 15,713 votes, and BJP's Kaushlendra Singh Patel follows second.

Meanwhile in Araria Lok Sabha by-election in Bihar, the Rashtriya Janata Dal's (RJD) Sarafaraz Alam is leading by a margin of 455 votes with 1,95,527 votes, BJP's Pradip Singh closely follows second

In the state's assembly bypoll, the BJP is leading by 8914 votes in Bhabua after eighth round of counting and the RJD has marked a clear lead in Jehanabad with a margin of 29,551 votes as JDU trails behind second, in the tenth round of counting.

Stakes are high in Bihar as the by-elections are being seen as a litmus test for Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who last year broke away from the grand alliance and allied with the BJP.

The counting of votes for the bypolls held on March 11, began at 8:00 am.