Voting begins for the crucial by-polls in four Lok Sabha seats and 10 assembly constituencies as this lies as an acid test for the parties ahead of the most important general election in 2019.
Among the elections happening today, main focus is on Uttar Pradesh's Kairana seat where the opposition parties, the Samajwadi Party, BSP and the Congress are supporting Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal candidate. Elections are going on in other parts of the country especially in Palghar and Bhandara-Gondiya parliamentary constituencies in Maharashtra and for the one seat in Nagaland.
BJP leader Hukum Singh's death led to an unavoidable election in Kairana as the BJP has fielded Hukum Singh's daughter Mriganka Singh as the candidate this time while Ajit Singh's RLD has fielded Tabassum Hassan as the candidate.
The opposition parties are hoping for a replication of their earlier victories in Gorakhpur and Phulpur which was previously held by UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya.
