SP takes lead in UP's Noorpur assembly seat

The Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate from Noorpur assembly seat, Naeem-ul-Hasan has taken an over 9,000 votes lead against his nearest BJP rival Avani Singh, a poll official said on Thursday.

Hasan began leading right from the word go during the counting of the postal ballots and has since been increasing the margin against Singh, the widow of the Bharatiya Janata Party legislator Lokendra Pratap Singh.

The SP candidate is supported by the entire opposition, including Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Rashtriya Lok Dal, Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party.

It was Lokendra Pratap Singh's death in a road accident in February that had necessitated the bye-elections held on Monday, which saw a 61 per cent voter turnout.

As per the Election Commission, the counting in the Noorpur assembly seat in Bijnore district began amid tight security at 8 a.m. and after six rounds of counting Hasan is ahead by 9,242 votes.

There are 10 candidates in the fray but the direct contest is between the BJP and SP. If the trends continue, then it would appear that the ruling BJP did not make good of the conventional sympathy wave to win the seat.

--IANS

md/in