01:57Bypolls: Voting underway in 4 Lok Sabha seats and 10 assembly constituencies

LUCKNOW: Monday’s high-stakes bypoll in west UP’s Kairana is an acid test for BJP and a combined opposition, which displayed its strength at the swearing-in of Karnataka CM H D Kumaraswamy recently. Three other Lok Sabha and 10 Assembly seats across the country will also go for by-elections the same day.Mriganka Singh, daughter of controversial BJP ex-MP Hukum Singh, is BJP’s candidate in Kairana, a seat which will not only test the efficacy of the proposed grand-alliance in UP, with the SP-BSP combine as pivot, but also give an opportunity to CM Yogi Adityanath to regain his lost pride after BJP’s defeat in Gorakhpur and Phulpur bypolls in March. Mriganka faces RLD’s Tabassum Hasan, who is supported by Congress , SP and BSP.The Noorpur Assembly seat in UP’s Bijnor district is dominated by Thakurs and Muslims. The seat was won by BJP’s Lokendra Singh in last two assembly polls. He died in a road accident this February. His widow, the BJP candidate, faces SP nominee, supported by RLD and Congress. In Maharashtra, byelections to Palghar and Bhandara-Gondia Lok Sabha seats will see a fight between former alliance partners — BJP and Shiv Sena. All eyes are set on Rajarajeshwari Nagar in Karnataka as it goes to polls on Monday, with Congress, JD(S) and BJP locked in a triangular fight.Voting in the assembly seat was rescheduled for May 28 after several voter ID cards were found in a flat in Bengaluru on May 9. The constituency is witnessing a “friendly fight” between alliance partners, Congress and JD(S), as talks between them over seat sharing failed. CPM ’s Saji Cheriyan will face a tough challenge from Congress candidate D Vijaykumar and BJP’s PS Sreedharan Pillai in the Chengannur Assembly bypoll in Kerala.The bypoll to Ampati seat in South Garo Hills in Meghalaya will witness a face-off between the ruling NPP and opposition Congress and will determine who claims the position of the single largest party in the state. Monday’s contest for the Nagaland Lok Sabha seat is set to be a prestige fight between Naga People’s Front and the newly formed ruling coalition of NDPP and BJP.Two Assembly constituencies in Jharkhand — Sillia and Gomia — will vote on Monday. In Bihar , the Jokihat Assembly seat will be an allout contest between JD(U) and RJD. BJP hopes to win the Maheshtala Assembly bypoll in Bengal on Monday where the party will have to fight it out with TMC and the Congress-CPM alliance. The Sahkot Assembly bypoll in Punjab is a high-octane contest between Congress, SAD and BJP. The Tharali Assembly bypoll in Uttarakhand is a direct contest between BJP and Congress.