NDA crosses halfway mark but I.N.D.I.A. gives a tough fight

mangaloretoday.com

New Delhi, June 04, 2024: The day is finally here when we shall know which coalition, the NDA or the I.N.D.I.A. bloc, will be governing the country for the coming five years.Uttar Pradesh is India’s most politically significant state in terms of the sheer number of Lok Sabha seats, 80, and has always been under the electoral limelight.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP-led NDA won 62 of the state’s 80 seats, with the BSP and Samajwadi Party, then allies, winning 10 and five seats, respectively.

This time, the Samajwadi Party and the Congress have tied up for the opposition INDIA bloc and the BSP is on its own.

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 the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party is contesting 62 seats, the Congress is fighting 17.

The BJP has stuck to its old ally, Apna Dal (Sonelal), and has also brought in Jayant Chaudhary’s RLD and OP Rajbhar’s Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party into the NDA fold.

Exit polls have given the NDA an edge in Uttar Pradesh, but the INDIA bloc leaders have dismissed the projections.

The counting is underway for all the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh. The NDA (BJP in 42, RLD in 2)  was leading in 44 while the INDIA bloc was ahead in 34 (SP in 28 and Congress in six), according to the latest trends.

Among the key seats, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is currently leading over Congress’s Ajay Rai in Varanasi, while Rahul Gandhi is ahead in Rae Bareli.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is also leading from the Kannauj Lok Sabha seat.