Lucknow,  The Samajwadi Party's (SP) Dharmendra Yadav was leading after the first round of counting of votes on Saturday for the Lok Sabha by-elections.

Asim Raja, the SP candidate in Rampur, was trailing behind Ghanshyam Lodhi of the BJP.

Counting of votes in Azamgarh was delayed following a dispute between the district administration and Yadav over allowing entry into the strong room where EVM machines were kept.

BJP spokesman S.N. Singh said that this was the initial trend and the BJP would win both seats.