UP bypolls: SP leading in Gorakhpur, Phulpur (Second Lead)

Lucknow, March 14 (IANS) The Samajwadi Party was leading in both the Lok Sabha constituencies of Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur and Phulpur on Wednesday, a poll official said.

In Gorakhpur, the former parliamentary constituency of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the SP's Pravin Nishad managed 44,979 votes against BJP's Upendra Dutt Shukla's 43,456 votes around 11 a.m.

In Phulpur too, the SP's Nagendra Patel was cruising ahead of his nearest Bharatiya Janata Party rival Kaushlendra Singh Patel, the poll official said.

After counting picked up pace at around 10 a.m., Kaushlendra Singh Patel lost his initial lead to Nagendra Patel by over 1,500 votes.

After three rounds, Nagendra Patel was at 7,600 votes against Kaushlendra Singh Patel's 6,163 votes. 

Poor voting percentage in the by polls and the coming together of arch rivals SP-Bahujan Samaj Party has made the elections close contests.