Bhopal, Apr 13 (IANS): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is leading in the two assembly constituencies in Madhya Pradesh where by-election was held on April 9, election officials said on Thursday.

The counting of votes began at 8 a.m. According to the office of Chief Electoral Officer, in Ater constituency BJP candidate Arvind Singh Bhadoria is leading against Hemat Katare of the Congress by 643 votes.

In Bandhavgarh, BJP candidate Shivnarayan Singh is leading against Savitri Singh of the Congress by 10,965 votes.

There were 21 candidates in the fray in Ater, while five contested from Bandhavgarh.

Around 60 per cent voter turnout was reported in Ater during the polling on Sunday while the voting percentage was 65 in Bandhavgarh.

The Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) was used with the electronic voting machines (EVMs) in both the by-polls.

The Ater assembly seat fell vacant following the death of sitting legislator Satyadev Katare of the Congress, while the by-poll in Bandhavgarh was necessitated after its legislator Gyan Singh was elected to the Lok Sabha in November by-election last year.