Bharatiya Janata Party is set to retain the State of Uttar Pradesh as latest trends from the ECI show the ruling party leading in 245 seats, while Samajwadi Party maintains a lead in 121 constituencies.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, in his first-ever Assembly elections is leading from the Gorakhpur Urban constituency, while Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav leads the Karhal constituency.
Elections to the 403-seated Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly was held in seven phases from February 10 to March 7. The Bharatiya Janata Party government, headed by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, which enjoys an absolute majority, is seeking another term. The Samajwadi Party, headed by former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, the Bahujan Samaj Party headed by Mayawati are strong contenders. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who spearheaded the campaign from Congress too hopes to put an impressive show.
View detailed map of election results here
Exit polls have predicted a second term for the BJP, albeit lesser seats and the SP finishing as the runner-up.
Here are the live updates on election results of Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur.
Azam Khan, Nahid Hasan leading from Rampur and Kairana respectively
Both Azam Khan and Nahid Hasan, Samajwadi Party’s (SP) candidates currently lodged in jail, lead in their constituencies in 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.
Azam Khan is contesting from Rampur while Nahid Hasan is a candidate in Kairana constituency of UP. Abdullah Azam Khan, Mr. Azam Khan’s son who himself has multiple criminal cases against him, is also comfortably cruising towards victory in Suar constituency.
Sandeep Yadav and Yogesh Verma, other big names from SP with multiple criminal cases against them, are both trailing in their constituencies Allahabad North and Hastinapur respectively. Meanwhile, SP’s Atul Pradhan, who also declared criminal cases against himself before the election, is leading in Sardhana.
Among other candidates with criminal cases, BJP’s Maninder Pal is trailing marginally in Siwalkhas. INC’s Louise Khurshid, the wife of Congress leader Salman Khurshid, has only managed to secure one percent of votes so far. Bahujan Samaj Party’s (BSP) Aman Mani Tripathi, accused of killing his wife, is trailing in Nautanwa constituency.
According to a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), 224 SP candidates have criminal records against them – 65% of the total analysed records of the party. Bharatiya Janata Party fielded 169 candidates with criminal cases, while Congress fielded 160. Thirty-eight percent of BSP candidates contesting the 2022 UP Assembly elections have declared criminal cases against themselves.
Officers who quit ED, IPS to join BJP leading in UP polls
BJP candidates Asim Arun, who had quit the Indian Police Service, and Rajeshwar Singh, who resigned from the Enforcement Directorate, to fight the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, were leading from their respective seats.
Mr Arun was leading from the Kannauj seat with over 1.20 lakh votes and closely trailed by Samajwadi Party's Anil Doharey, who polled 1.14 lakh votes till 4 pm, the Election Commission website showed.
Asim Arun, a 1994-batch IPS officer, was an additional director general-rank officer serving as the Kanpur Police Commissioner when he sought VRS on January 8.
Dr Singh was leading from Sarojini Nagar seat in Lucknow with 52,199 votes to his name, while his nearest rival SP's Abhishek Mishra got 34,767 votes till 4 pm.
Rajeshwar Singh had started his career as a Provincial Police Services (PPS) officer (1996 batch) in Uttar Pradesh. He had joined the force after completing his B.Tech from IIT-Dhanbad and had been posted as a circle officer in many parts of Lucknow.
A PhD in police, human rights and social justice, Dr Singh joined the Enforcement Directorate, a central investigating agency that probes cases of money laundering and foreign exchange violation crimes, on deputation in 2007.
Akhilesh leads in Karhal
Samajwadi Party president Akhikesh Yadav is leading by a massive margin in Karhal, with a lead of over 50,000 votes from the BJP’s SP Singh Bagel.
With U.P. victory, Adityanath is first among equals among BJP CMs
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday created a record of sorts by not just breaking the pattern of alternation in the State that had set in three decades ago but also by becoming the first Chief Minister of the State from the BJP to complete a full five-year term. The BJP also increased its vote share in the State from 39.7% in the 2017 Assembly polls to around 42% (counting was still on at the time of writing) in 2022.
SP still hopeful
The Samajwadi Party alleged that the ruling BJP is spreading rumours of its victory in the UP Assembly polls and claimed that after the declaration of the final results, it will form next government in the state.
When asked about BJP men celebrating their victory, SP state president Naresh Uttam Patel said, "Till now, only 50 per cent counting is over. By celebrating, the BJP is spreading rumours." He alleged that the victory of SP candidates is not declared on the Election Commission website so that rumours could be spread.
Appealing to party workers, Patel said, "SP workers should not be disheartened and remain there at counting centres. When final results will come, the SP will win and Akhilesh Yadav will become the chief minister."
Adityanath busts 'Noida jinx' after three decades
With the BJP looking set to secure a straight second term in Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday appeared to have successfully busted what was dubbed as the "Noida Jinx".
A myth was nurtured for nearly three decades that any chief minister of Uttar Pradesh who visited Noida in Gautam Buddh Nagar district was doomed to go out of power.
The "Noida jinx" took root after chief minister Veer Bahadur Singh had to step down in June 1988, a few days after he returned from Noida. Mulayam Singh Yadav, Akhilesh Yadav, Rajnath Singh and Kalyan Singh have avoided visiting Noida when they were chief ministers. The then Chief Minister Mayawati visited the city in November 2007, to attend a wedding. But she was ousted in 2012.
Yogi Adityanath, who had stormed to power in UP in 2017, has visited Noida nearly a dozen times since becoming the UP chief minister and launched the Noida Metro, among other development projects in the region over the years. - PTI
Holi comes early for BJP; disbelief at SP office
The mood at the Samajwadi Party (SP) headquarters in Lucknow changed from that of jubiliation to despondency in matter of three-hours on March 10. At 8.30 a.m. as the initial trends for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election results started pouring in, the gaint television screens stationed outside the party headquarter at Lucknow showed the SP standing neck to neck with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The crowd of supporters and workers hopeful of impending victory raised slogans and surged towards these screens taking over the road but by 11.30 a.m. as the numbers started slipping, the party workers stared at the same screens with disbelief.
The disbelief soon turned into anger, primarily against the EVMs which, as per the narrative built up by the SP leadership especially party president Akhilesh Yadav, stole what was their rightful mandate. The anger was also directed at Mr. Yadav and the party leadership. Unlike, the BJP office, here the gates to the party office remained shut from morning. There were no words of assurance, no pats on the back and no consolation on offer. Mr. Yadav’s communication to his cadres was restricted to the social media.
BJP leads from all constituencies of Lakhimpur Kheri district
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leads in all eight constituencies under Lakhimpur Kheri district in Uttar Pradesh.
In October 2021, four protesting farmers were killed in the district after being run over by a car that was part of a convoy of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs and BJP MP Ajay Kumar Mishra. The minister’s son Ashish Mishra was jailed in connection with the case but was granted bail by the Allahabad High Court in February 2022.
Rashtriya Lok Dal leading from 10 seats
Rashtriya Lok Dal is leading from 10 seats as per the latest trends update.
Though an ally of the Samajwadi Party, the RLD had released its own separate manifesto. Earlier in the year, Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah had said that the RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary had “picked the wrong house”, but that possibilities could be explored after the polls. “
Mr. Chaudhary had called this overture, “a clever political strategy”
Most turncoat candidates trailing
Former Uttar Pradesh Cabinet Minister Swami Prasad Maurya trails in Fazilnagar constituency as a candidate of Samajwadi Party (SP).
Mr. Maurya had resigned from Yogi Adityanath’s cabinet and quit the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to join SP, shortly before the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.
Dharam Singh Saini, another minister who had quit Adityanath’s Cabinet and joined SP, is currently leading in Nakur constituency.
BJP had seen an exodus of MLAs right before the elections in UP. Most of them joined Akhilesh Yadav’s SP. Out of these MLAs, only Roshanlal Verma is currently leading in Tilhar constituency while all others are trailing on their seats. The trailing candidates include Brijesh Prajapati (Tindwari), Bhagwati Sagar (Ghatampur), Dara Singh Chauhan (Ghosi), Mukesh Verma (Shikohabad), and Avtar Singh Bhadana (Jewar).
In Mr. Adityanath’s Cabinet, Mr. Maurya was the Minister of Labour, Employment and Coordination, Mr. Saini was the Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ayush, Food Security and Drug Administration, and Mr. Chauhan was the Minister of Forest, Environment, Zoological Garden departments
BJP’s Dhirendra Singh leading in Jewar
BJP’s Dhirendra Singh was leading from Jewar in Gautam Buddh Nagar district of Uttar Pradeh on Thursday by a margin of over 20,000 votes, according to poll trends.
Mr. Singh was leading over his nearest rival RLD’s Avtar Singh Bhadana by 20,204 votes at 1.00 p.m., the Election Commission website showed.
Mr. Singh, who had polled 49% of the votes in 2017 to emerge victorious, is considered close to UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and a key person behind the upcoming airport in the constituency.- PTI
Bharatiya Janata Party leads in 255 seats out of 403 constituencies
As per the latest trends, the ruling party was leading the vote share from 255 constituencies, with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath leading the Gorakhpur Urban constituency by more than 28,000 votes.
After six rounds of counting, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya was trailing behind Samajwadi Party’s Pallavi Patel, in the Sirathu constituency.
BJP parliamentary board meeting likely on Thursday evening
The BJP parliamentary board, its apex organisational body, is likely to meet later on Thursday to review the party's performance in assembly polls in five States as initial trends projected a thumping victory for the party in Uttar Pradesh.
As of 12.50 p.m. the ruling party was leading in 252 out of the 403 seats.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to address party workers at the BJP headquarters in the evening, sources said.
Top party leaders, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and party president J.P. Nadda, will be attending the parliamentary board meeting.- PTI
Congress State president Ajay Kumar Lallu trails from Tamkuhi Raj
Uttar Pradesh Congress State president Ajay Kumar Lallu is trailing from Tamkuhi Raj constituency.
Mr. Lallu, the sitting MLA from Tamkuhi Raj, secured 8,232 votes so far, his nearest rival BJP candidate Asim Kumar has got 29,271 votes, according to the Election Commission. Samajwadi Party candidate Uday Narayan got 10,894 votes.- PTI
Data | 2022 Uttar Pradesh polls: How the BJP and SP are performing in farmer-intensive districts
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and allies appear to be losing considerable share of votes in Uttar Pradesh districts where more than 50% of the labour force works in agriculture and allied sectors.
In districts where agriculture workers account for more than 75% of the workforce, BJP+ is leading on 56 seats, seven less than its final count recorded in 2017. In districts where agriculture workers range between 55 and 75%, BJP+ appears to be losing 24 seats according to the latest trends.
Samajwadi Party (SP) and allies are making strides in the farming-intensive areas where BJP+ is losing. In districts with more than 75% agriculture workers, SP+ is leading on nine seats more than it won in 2017. In the 55-75% bracket, the alliance is leading on 54 seats, 33 more than it won in 2017.
Nishad Party leads in five constituencies
Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal (Nishad) Party leads in five constituencies in Uttar Pradesh.
Nishad Party is contesting the Assembly elections in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The party was founded in 2016 by Sanja Nishad and draws support from the Nishad community of boatmen and fishermen, and sub-castes such as Bind, Mallah and Manjhi, whose traditional occupations centre around rivers flowing through the Gangetic belt.
Nishad Party’s Vijay Mishra had secured a win in Gyanpur constituency in the 2017 Assembly elections. In 2020, Mishra and his son were booked on charges of raping a Varanasi-based singer. He is contesting the elections this year as a member of the Pragatisheel Manav Samaj Party from Gyanpur constituency.
Data | 2022 Uttar Pradesh polls: BJP’s performance in the seats won in 2017
Out of the 322 seats won by the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies in 2017, the Samajwadi Party and its allies were leading on 76 seats. Therefore, SP+ secured 34.7% of vote share lead so far in the seats won by the BJP in 2017.
Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya marginally trails from Sirathu
Uttar Pradesh’s Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya was shown as trailing marginally from the Sirathu constituency, behind Samajwadi Party’s Pallavi Patel.
Sirathu was among the 325 seats won by the BJP in 2017. In the wake of OBC leaders Swami Prasad Maurya and Dara Singh Chauhan quitting the BJP, Keshav Prasad Maurya’s significance as the OBC face of the party increased.
Keshav Prasad Maurya, is the RSS-BJP’s home-grown Maurya face, groomed in Hindutva as part of the party’s OBC project to appeal to non-Yadav backward class communities, in sharp contrast to Swami Prasad Maurya, who identifies as an Ambedkarite and has spent most of his political life in the BSP and socialist parties, often at loggerheads with Brahminical ideas.
SP says early trends ‘not authentic’, appeals to workers to stay put till counting ends
The Samajwadi Party on Thursday said initial trends in Uttar Pradesh were "not authentic" and asked its workers to stay put at local assembly election offices till the counting of votes ends.
"These trends are not authentic, a perception is being made that BJP is winning, so that the morale of the workers can be broken and results manipulated dishonestly after 3 PM. It is an appeal to the workers to stay put at the spot till the last results!” the Samajwadi Party's media cell tweeted in Hindi.
"These trends are not authentic, a perception is being made that BJP is winning, so that the morale of the workers can be broken and results manipulated dishonestly after 3 PM. It is an appeal to the workers to stay put at the spot till the last results!” the Samajwadi Party's media cell tweeted in Hindi.- PTI
Samajwadi Party marginally improves its performance in Lucknow district
Samajwadi Party (SP) marginally improves its performance in the constituencies under Lucknow district of Uttar Pradesh.
SP is currently leading on three seats in Lucknow district – Lucknow North, Sarojini Nagar, and Mohanlalganj.
In the 2017 Assembly elections, BJP had managed to win eight out of nine seats in Lucknow district while SP had won in one constituency.
Currently, BJP is leading on six seats – Lucknow Cantt., Lucknow Central, Lucknow East, Lucknow West, Malihabad, and Bakshi ka Talab.
RLD’s Ahmed Hameed marginally trails behind BJP’s Yogesh Dhama from Bagpat
Rashtriya Lok Dal’s (RLD) Ahmed Hameed is marginally trailing against Bharatiya Janata Party’s Yogesh Dhama in Bagpat constituency.
Jaiveer of RLD is leading with a strong majority in Baraut constituency of Baghpat district, while Ajay Kumar of the same party has a slight lead over BJP’s Sahender Singh Ramala in Chhaprauli.
Baghpat district was an important centre for farmers’ protest in western Uttar Pradesh. In November 2020, farmers had launched a huge protest on the outskirts of Delhi and nearby areas of western UP, Punjab, and so on. The protest against the three new farm laws passed by the Parliament in September 2020 lasted for a year and was called off only after the laws were repealed.
Samajwadi Party’s Swami Prasad Maurya trails in Fazilnagar
Swami Prasad Maurya of the Samajwadi Party was trailing by more than 5,000 votes in the Fazilnagar constituency, behind Surendra Kumar Kushwaha of the BJP.
Earlier in the year senior OBC leader Swami Prasad Maurya, had quit the Yogi Adityanath government where he had held the position oof Minister for Labour, employment and coordination, to join the Samajwadi Party
Resigning from the party, Mr. Maurya had said, he had carried out his ministerial duties diligently despite “adverse circumstances” and ideological differences with the BJP.
Yogi Adityanath leads from Gorakhpur (Urban) constituency
Latest trends show Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath leading from the Gorakhpur (Urban) constituency with a margin of more than 4,000 votes.
This is the first Assembly election fought by Mr. Adityanath, and has in the past represented the Lok Sabha constituency here. Mr. Adityanath is also the head of the Gorakhnath Peeth of the Nath Sampradaya.
The Samajwadi Party put up Subhavati Shukla, widow of former BJP U.P. vice president Upendra Shukla, who had contested the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat and lost it in the bypoll after Yogi Adityanath resigned the seat to become the Chief Minister.
BJP crosses majority mark in Uttar Pradesh
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) crosses majority mark in Uttar Pradesh, ECI trends show.
The party appears well-positioned to return to power in the state. No other political party has been able to achieve the feat since 1985. It is currently leading in 215 constituencies.
Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party (SP), touted as one of BJP’s major opponents in the State, is leading on 89 seats.
Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is leading in five seats while the Indian National Congress (INC) is ahead in three.
Akhilesh Yadav leads from Karhal
Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav leads in Karhal constituency in Uttar Pradesh.
Meanwhile, Akhilesh Yadav’s uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav is facing a close contest against BJP’s Vivek Shakya in Jaswantnagar constituency.
Swami Prasad Maurya, who resigned from Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's cabinet shortly before the elections to join SP, is trailing in Fazilnagar.
BJP leads in 116 consituencies, Samajwadi party leading in 55 seats
The latest trends from the ECI show the Bharatiya Janata Party leading in 116 consituencies, while the Samajwadi party leads in 55 seats.
Akhilesh Yadav (SP) leads from the constituency of Karhal, Asim Arun (BJP) holds lead in Kannauj constituency.
Man Pal Singh (SP) leads from the Kasganj constituency.
BJP leads in 48 seats, while Samajwadi Party holds lead in 24 constituencies
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is leading in 48 constituencies in Uttar Pradesh.
Anupriya Patel’s Apna Dal (Soneylal) is leading on four seats. The party is contesting the 2022 Assembly elections in UP in alliance with the BJP.
Samajwadi Party is leading in 24 constituencies so far, while its ally Rashtriya Lok Dal is ahead in two.
Both the Indian National Congress and Raghuraj Pratap Singh’s Jansatta Dal Loktantrik are leading in two constituencies.
First trends in for Uttar Pradesh, BJP leads in Tindwari, Sandila and Nehtaur constituency
Early trends released by the Election Commission of India (ECI) show the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is leading on three seats in Uttar Pradesh.
BJP candidates Ramkesh Nishad and Alka Singh are leading in Tindwari and Sandila constituencies of UP respectively.
Omkumar of the BJP was leading from Nehtaur constituency
Counting of votes began at 8.00 a.m., with postal ballots being counted first.
In the 2017 Assembly elections, BJP won 312 of the 403 seats in the state. The majority mark is 202.
As counting for 403 seats is under way in the State of Uttar Pradesh, scenes from outside the Samajwadi Party Office
Counting begins amid tight security arrangements in U.P.
The 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 centres.
“The counting in all 75 districts of the state began at 8 am with postal ballots being counted first,” a senior election official said.
VVPAT (voter-verified paper audit trail) slips of five machines will be counted in every Assembly constituency.
The official said cameras have been installed at all counting centres.
Police said 250 CAPF companies have been deployed. A CAPF company usually has around 70-80 personnel.
As many as 625 gazetted officers of the UP Police, 1,807 inspectors, 9,598 sub-inspectors, 11,627 head constables and 48,649 constables have also been deployed, the officials added.- PTI
Counting of votes to start from 8.00 a.m.
Counting of votes for all the five States will start from 8.00 a.m., according to the Election Commission of India’s website.
Varanasi official suspended over EVM protocol
The Election Commission of India (EC) ordered action against an “erring official” in Varanasi for not following the protocol for transporting electronic voting machines (EVM), an EC official said on Wednesday, a day after the Samajwadi Party (SP) accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of sabotaging the mandate after its workers intercepted a truck carrying EVMs.
Moods swing as the BJP and SP await U.P. poll results
On the eve of crucial Uttar Pradesh Assembly election results, there’s an atmosphere of distrust and doubt in the air, with Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav raising questions over the electronic voting machines (EVM) and exhorting his party workers to be alert towards any attempts to steal the mandate.
