Bypoll results 2018 LIVE: BJP trails united Opposition in UP's Kairana

1. Bypoll results 2018 LIVE: BJP trails united Opposition in UP's Kairana Kairana by-election results will serve as a test case for a united Opposition against the PM Narendra Modi-led BJP. Catch all the live updates here.

2. Bypoll results 2018 will be out in a few hours as counting of votes for by-elections to four Lok Sabha seats and 10 Assembly constituencies will be held on Thursday. The Lok Sabha seats that went to polls are Palghar and Bhandara-Gondiya in Maharashtra, the politically-crucial Kairana Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh, and the Nagaland parliamentary constituency. Further, by-elections were held in the Legislative Assemblies of Shahkot (Punjab), Tharali (Uttarakhand), Ampati (Meghalaya), Chengannur (Kerala), Jokihat (Bihar), Gomia (Jharkhand), Silli (Jharkhand), Maheshtala (West Bengal), Noorpur (Uttar Pradesh), and Palus Kadegaon (Maharashtra). The Kairana results, in particular, will also serve as a test case for a united Opposition against the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Kairana bypoll is also significant as it will test the ruling BJP's popularity in the electorally crucial state of Uttar Pradesh a year ahead of the 2019 general elections. In Kairana, BJP's Mriganka Singh is fighting against Rashtriya Lok Dal's (RLD's) Tabassum Hasan, who is supported by the Congress, the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Most importantly, the outcome in Kairana will either see the BJP break its losing streak this year in Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha bypolls or hand over a hat-trick to the Opposition. The bye-elections were marred by complaints of malfunctioning electronic voting machines (EVMs), which the Election Commission (EC) had to replace at certain places. Subsequently, repolling was held at several booths on Wednesday.