Bypolls: SP set to retain Mainpuri, BJP wrests assembly seat in Bihar from ruling alliance

NEW DELHI/LUCKNOW: The Samajwadi Party was all set to retain the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat while the BJP wrested the Kurhani assembly seat in Bihar on Thursday, dealing a blow to the Nitish Kumar-led ruling grand alliance in the state, as counting of votes was underway for the December 5 by-elections.

Congress' Savitri Mandavi was leading in the Bhanupratappur Assembly seat in Chhattisgarh and Anil Kumar was ahead in the Sardarshahar Assembly seat in Rajasthan's Churu district. Both the seats were held by the ruling Congress in the two states.

In Uttar Pradesh, the RLD and the BJP were ahead in Khatauli and Rampur Sadar assembly seats respectively, while the BJD was leading in the Padampur assembly seat in Odisha's Bargarh district.

Dimple Yadav, the wife of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, has taken a lead of over 2.38 lakh votes over her nearest rival BJP candidate Raghuraj Singh Shakya in Mainpuri, a pocket borough of SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav's family.

RLD's Madan Bhaiya is leading by over 11,327 votes in Khatauli over the BJP's Rajkumar Saini, the Election Commission said.

BJP's Akash Saxena is ahead of Samajwadi Party candidate Asim Raja from Rampur Sadar by a margin of 6,746 votes.

BJP candidate Kedar Prasad Gupta defeated Manoj Singh Kushwaha of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) by 3,645 votes in Kurhani seat in Bihar.

In the cliffhanger of a contest, Gupta polled 76,653 votes while Kushwaha finished with 73,008 votes.

The by-election was necessitated by the disqualification of RJD MLA Anil Kumar Sahani. The RJD is a constituent of the ruling Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance).