Voting for by-elections to three Lok Sabha seats, two in Uttar Pradesh and one in Bihar, is being held. While bypolls in Gorakhpur and Phulpur - vacated by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya - are seen as a prestige battle for the BJP, it will also test the new electoral arrangement between arch rivals, the Samajwadi Party and Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). In Bihar, voting is being held for the Araria Lok Sabha seat and two assembly seats. It is the first electoral test for Chief Minister Nitish Kumar after he walked out of the "grand alliance" last year and teamed up with the BJP.
