RLD forges ahead of BJP in Kairana LS seat, SP in Noorpur assembly seat

Uttar Pradesh's ruling BJP today stared at major electoral upsets with the joint opposition candidate, RLD's Tabassum Hasan, leading by over 39,000 votes in the Kairana Lok Sabha constituency and the SP ahead in the Noorpur Assembly seat, officials said.

In Kairana, Hasan forged ahead of the BJP's Mriganka Singh after the 17th round of counting.

In Noorpur, the Samajwadi Party's Naeemul Hasan was ahead of his BJP rival by over 10,000 votes after 22 rounds of counting.

Rashtriya Lok Dal's Tabassum Hasan, supported by the Congress, Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party, established an early lead over Mriganka Singh right from the beginning to establish an almost invincible lead by noon.

After 17 rounds of counting, Tabassum Hasan polled 3,21,311 votes, while Mriganka Singh got 2,82,289 votes, the election office here said.

The seat fell vacant following the death of Mriganka Singh's father Hukum Singh of the BJP, necessitating the bypoll.

In Noorpur, which was also held by the BJP, SP candidate Naeemul Hasan cruised ahead of his nearest BJP rival Avni Singh.

Naeemul Hasan was supported by the Congress, the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the AAP.

Counting of votes for the Kairana Lok Sabha and Noorpur Assembly by-elections began this morning amid tight security arrangements.

Polling for the high-stakes by-elections to the two constituencies was held on Monday.

In Kairana, repolling was held at 73 polling stations yesterday.

In the recent by-elections held in the prestigious Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha constituencies, the ruling BJP had lost to the SP.

While Gorakhpur was represented by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adtiyanath, Phulpur was held by his deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya.

The by-elections were held as they vacated their seats on getting elected to the UP Legislative Council.