UP Election Results 2024: The biggest setback for the BJP has come from Uttar Pradesh, which sends the highest number of members to the Lok Sabha. The saffron party, which won 64 seats in the last general elections, is likely to win 35 seats, while its alliance partner RLD may win two seats and Apna Dal 1.
The Samajwadi Party (SP) made a major dent in BJP's seat tally as it swept the Purvanchal region. As of 6 pm, the SP was likely to win 37 seats, 32 higher than in 2019. The Congress, which was restricted to 1 seat in 2019, has made a recovery and is likely to win 7 seats.
In the 2014 elections, the saffron party stunned almost everyone by bagging 71 on its own and 73 of 80 seats with its ally Apna Dal. In the next elections, the NDA's tally came down to 64 as Mayawati's BSP and Samajwadi Party came together, forming a formidable alliance to challenge Modi's juggernaut.
This time, BSP supremo and former chief minister Mayawati went solo and fielded candidates in 79 constituencies. The SP and Congress, both part of the INDIA bloc, together take on the BJP. The SP under the leadership of Akhilesh Yadav is contesting 62 seats, while the Congress trying its luck on 17. TMC has fielded its candidate in Bhadohi.
Uttar Pradesh witnessed some high-profile battles, with some of the top leaders of the country contesting from this Hindi heartland. Among the prominent faces contesting from UP are Prime Minister Narendra Modi (Varanasi), Rahul Gandhi (Rae Bareli), Akhilesh Yadav (Kannuaj), Rajnath Singh (Lucknow), Smriti Irani (Amethi), and Menaka Gandhi (Sultanpur).
Prime Minister Modi is up against Congress' Ajay Rai, Rahul Gandhi is squaring off with BJP's Dinesh Pratap Singh, and Smriti Irani is facing off against Gandhi family loyalist KL Sharma in Amethi. In Sultanpur, former Union Minister Maneka Gandhi is up against the Samajwadi Party's Ram Bhual Nishad and the Bahujan Samaj Party's Uday Raj Verma.
Besides these, BJP's Jitin Prasada is contesting from Pilibhit, Arun Govil from Meerut, and Hema Malini from Mathura. Dimple Yadav, wife of Akhilesh Yadav, is trying her luck from SP-bastion Mainpuri. Jitin Prasada replaced Varun Gandhi in Pilibhit, who the BJP dropped.
The BJP is also strengthened by the support extended by smaller parties such as Om Prakash Rajbhar's Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) headed by Jayant Chaudhary. Rajbhar's return to the NDA is expected to provide the alliance an edge in the Purvanchal region. Similarly, the RLD's alliance with the BJP is expected to make the NDA's job easier in western Uttar Pradesh.
The RLD has significant clout among Jats and dominates the farming community, and the Centre awarding Bharat Ratna (posthumously) for Chaudhary's grandfather and farmer leader Charan Singh is expected to swing the sentiments in favour of the NDA.
India Today-Axis My India's exit polls had projected 64-67 seats for the BJP, slightly higher than in 2019. The Samajwadi Party, which is contesting with Congress, was predicted to get 7-9 seats, 2-4 seats more than what it got in the last elections.