Delhi : Yogi Adityanath is all set to return as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh with the BJP taking an unassailable lead over rivals in India’s politically most vital state, as counting of votes entered its fourth hour on Thursday.
The BJP, projecting more than 250 seats for the party out of the state’s 403. By 10 am, the BJP, it seemed, could cross 300 – the ambitious target set by the party for itself.
Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party, trailing with roughly half the seats, gained over the last election but fell far short of the party’s expectations.
Party, trailing in double digits, gained over the last election but fell far short of the party’s expectations.
Among those leading were Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath from Gorakhpur, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav from Karhal, his party’s Shivpal Yadav from Jaswant Nagar, and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya from Sirathu.
Counting of votes for the 403 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh began on Thursday morning with a three-layer security in place and cameras installed at all counting centres. In the initial rounds, postal ballots were counted.
All the exit polls have predicted a BJP win in the state where the stakes have been the highest in these elections.
With 80 parliamentary seats, Uttar Pradesh holds the key to power at the centre. A majority for the BJP in the 403-member Assembly would make it the first party to get a consecutive second term in more than three decades.
The Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party, considered the biggest challenger of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, had stitched up a diverse coalition with smaller parties which it had hoped would supplement its Muslim-Yadav support base with voters from the Other Backward Classes, who will be crucial in the eastern and western part of the state.
