![[FILE] RLD candidate for Kairana Lok Sabha seat, Tabassum Hasan visits a polling station, in Kairana on Monday | PTI](https://img.theweek.in/content/dam/week/news/india/images/2018/5/31/tabassum-hasan-kairana-pti.jpg "[FILE] RLD candidate for Kairana Lok Sabha seat, Tabassum Hasan visits a polling station, in Kairana on Monday | PTI")
RLD's Tabassum Hasan leading by over 5000 votes over BJP's Mriganka Singh as counting is underway for politically crucial Kairana Lok Sabha bypolls in Uttar Pradesh.
The results will test the mettle of a united opposition with that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as BJP, after losing from Gorakhpur and Phulpur, had profusely campaigned to win the Kairana seat.
The constituency fell vacant after the death of BJP MP Hukum Singh, whose daughter Mriganka Singh is now the party's candidate for the bypoll. She is fighting Rashtriya Lok Dal's (RLD) Tabassum Hasan, who is supported by the Congress, Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party. The BJP has fielded Mriganka Singh, daughter of Singh, from this seat.
Located around 630 km from capital city of Lucknow, the Lok Sabha constituency has five assembly segments namely Shamli, Thana Bhawan and Kairana in Shamli district, and Gangoh and Nakur in Saharanpur district. There are nearly 17 lakh voters in the constituency with a significant number of Muslims, Jats and Dalit voters.
The opposition hopes that by consolidating anti-BJP votes, they will repeat the success of the Gorakhpur and Phulpur bye-elections, where the ruling party suffered an unexpected defeat.
The withdrawal of candidature of Lok Dal candidate Kanwar Hasan from the fray and his joining of the RLD has only added to the opposition's confidence.