Uttar Pradesh Bypolls: BJP Leads In Five Of Nine Seats, Samajwadi Party In Three And RLD In One

In the bypolls held for nine assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is leading on five seats of Kundarki, Ghaziabad, Khair, Phulpur and Majhawan.

While the opposition Samajwadi Party (SP) is leading in Mainpuri's Karhal, Ambedkar Nagar's Katehari and Kanpur's Sishamau. The BJP ally Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) is leading on the lone seat it contested in Meerapur.

Before these seats were vacated, four of Karhal, Katehari, Shishamau and Kundarki were held by the SP, while three of Ghaziabad, Khair and Phulpur by the BJP.

Meerapur in the Muzaffarnagar district was with RLD earlier as well while Majhawan had a NISHAD party MLA, BJP ally which was not given ticket for the bypolls.

The trends mean that along with retaining its three seats, the BJP may win a Muslim-dominated seat of Kundarki from the SP after fielding a Hindu candidate.

If the trend settles, the BJP will be able to partially avenge the Lok Sabha losses where the SP outperformed the ruling party by winning 37 seats, while the BJP could win only 33, down from 62 in 2019.