June 4, 15:28 (IST)
Uttar Pradesh Election 2024 Results Update: SP-Congress combine weakens BJP’s strength in Uttar Pradesh
As vote counting continues in Uttar Pradesh state, which has the most seats in India’s lower house, a fierce contest is unfolding between the NDA led by the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Indian Alliance, which comprises the Samajwadi Party and the Indian National Congress.
The Samajwadi Party is currently leading in 36 seats. Dimple Yadav in particular has a huge lead over BJP candidate Jaiveer Singh by 140,966 votes, while her husband and party leader Akhilesh Yadav is leading by 84,463 votes over BJP’s Subrat Pathak.
The Samajwadi Party has made progress in Faizabad, which includes the Ayodhya Assembly seat, with SP’s Awadhesh Prasad leading by a margin of 9,991 votes over the BJP’s Lal Singh.
In Ghazipur, Samajwadi Party’s Afzal Ansari is leading by a large margin of 33,484 votes over the BJP’s Paras Nath Rai. Ansari is the brother of the late gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, who died earlier this year.
On the BJP side, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is leading in 33 seats and has a huge lead of 132,205 votes in Varanasi against Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Rai.
In Kaiserganj, Brij Bhushan Singh’s son Karan Bhushan Singh has a huge lead of 83,326 votes, but his father, a former president of the Indian Wrestling Federation, did not stand for election in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections due to sexual harassment allegations made against him by six female wrestlers.
In Lucknow, Rajnath Singh is leading against Samajwadi Party leader Ravidas Mehrotra by a margin of 42,048 votes.
Jitin Prasada, who is contesting in place of sitting MP and BJP leader Varun Gandhi in Pirhibhit, is holding a huge lead of 1,27,040 votes over Samajwadi Party leader Bhagwat Sarang Gangwar, while Varun Gandhi’s mother Maneka Gandhi is trailing Samajwadi Party candidate Rambuar Nishad by 24,624 votes in Sultanpur.
In Ghaziabad, BJP’s Atul Garg is leading by a margin of 86,011 votes, while in Gautam Buddha Nagar, Mahesh Sharma is leading by a margin of 2,66,339 votes.
According to the latest Election Commission of India figures, BJP’s Smriti Irani is trailing Indian National Congress Party leader Kishori Lal Sharma by 88,908 votes. Similarly, Maneka Gandhi is trailing Rambuar Nishad by 24,624 votes in Sultanpur.
Indian National Congress Party leader Rahul Gandhi maintains a huge lead over BJP’s Dinesh Pratap Singh in Raebareli with a margin of 2,71,752 votes.
The Indian National Congress, in alliance with various parties that form the India Bloc, under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, conducted two important marches across India covering more than 10,000 km – the Bharat Jodh Yatra and the Bharat Jodh Nyay Yatra – which helped unite the party and destabilise the NDA.
In Amroha, Danish Ali, who recently left the Bahujan Samaj Party to join the Indian National Congress, is leading with 13,494 votes against the BJP’s Kanwal Singh Tanwar.
Uttar Pradesh state, which holds the maximum 80 seats in India’s lower house, voted in seven phases.
Exit polls had initially projected the BJP to dominate in Uttar Pradesh, winning 65 of the 80 seats. Polls projected that NDA allies in the state, the Apna Dal (Soneral) and the Rashtriya Lok Dal, would win two seats each, taking the NDA’s tally to 69.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party won 62 of the 80 seats, followed by the Bahujan Samaj Party with 10, the Samajwadi Party with 5 and the Apna Dal with 2.
