"Counting for 11 seats of Vidhan Sabha and one seat of Lok Sabha started this morning," an Election Commission official said here.
He said micro observers have been deployed at counting stations.
The Assembly seats where bypolls were held include Saharanpur city, Bijnor, Thakurdwara, Noida, Nighasan Lucknow east, Hamirpur, Charkhari, Sirathu, Balha and Rohania, as also in Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat which was vacated by SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Stakes are high for BJP, Congress, Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh after the saffron party's near-total sweep of the 80 seats in Lok Sabha polls just four months ago.