SP-Cong alliance gives BJP run for its money in Uttar Pradesh, leads in 42 seats

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh which is contributing the highest number of seats, 80, to the Lok Sabha, is a crucial state for both the NDA and INDIA bloc.
With the counting of the votes in Lok Sabha polls underway, the Bharatiya Janata Party is leading on 35 seats and its ally partner RLD leading on two seats while Samajwadi party is leading on 34 seats in Uttar Pradesh, as per the initial trends by the Election Commission of India.
As per initial trends, there is a close fight between the SP and BJP in Uttar Pradesh, Congress is leading on 8 seats.
PM Narendra Modi is contesting from Varanasi Lok Sabha seats, he had won in 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Varanasi.
Meanwhile, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) leading on one seat each.
Voting was held in seven phases in Uttar Pradesh.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as the winner by securing the majority of seats. Of 80 seats, the BJP won 62, followed by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) with 10 seats, the Samajwadi Party (SP) with 5 seats, and the Apna Dal with 2 seats.
Uttar Pradesh, the state with the highest number of seats, is poised to see the BJP emerge victorious with 65 out of 80 seats, the exit polls have predicted. As per the poll predictions, its NDA allies in the state, Apna Dal (Sonelal) and Rashtriya Lok Dal are slated to win 2 seats each which brings the NDA tally to 69 seats.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is leading in the two Lok Sabha seats of Wayanad in Kerala and Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh as per very early leads as counting of votes for the 2024 general elections is underway.
Rahul Gandhi is leading from Kerala's Wayanad Lok Sabha seat with a margin of 8718 votes, according to Election Commission.
Rahul Gandhi is facing BJP leader K Surendran and CPI's Annie Raja in the constituency.
Rahul Gandhi is leading from Uttar Pradesh's Raebareli Lok Sabha seat with a margin of 2126 votes.
Thakur Prasad Yadav is contesting from the Bahujan Samaj Party.
For, the Congress, Amethi and Rae Bareli, its family strongholds, are prestige battles. This holds especially true for Amethi, where Rahul Gandhi lost to BJP's Smriti Irani last time. While Samajwadi Party is contesting 62 seats, the Congress is fighting 17.
In the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency, Congress party's Kishori Lal Meena is leading with 3018 votes, while BJP's Smriti Irani is trailing, as per Election Commission of India.
In Meerut, Arun Govil is leading with 5723 votes, while Samajwadi party's Sunita Verma is trailing.
The Meerut Lok Sabha seat is witnessing a triangular contest among the BJP, the opposition INDIA bloc and the Bahujan Samaj Party.
The BJP is relying on Arun Govil's popularity as the actor who portrayed Ram in the immensely popular "Ramayana" serial on Doordarshan in mid 1980's.
Most exit polls have predicted a return of PM Modi to power, a development which will make him the first Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to secure a third successive term in power,
Earlier, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar had said that a "very robust system" has been put in place. "There are around 10.5 lakh booths. Each booth will have 14 tables. There are observers and micro-observers. Nearly, 70-80 lakh people are involved in the process," he said.
Around 642 million people voted in Lok Sabha elections held over seven phases in a mammoth six-week period. The counting of votes began starting with postal ballot papers amid tight security. The counting for State Legislative Assemblies of 175 Assembly constituencies in Andhra Pradesh and 147 Assembly constituencies in Odisha and results of bypolls in 25 Assembly constituencies also began.