UP elections: Bharatiya Janata Party wins 250 seats, leading in five

Here are top updates:

11.24 pm: Chief Minister Adityanath won from the Gorakhpur Urban seat by a margin of 1.03 lakh votes. He defeated Samajwadi Party’s Subhawati Upendra Dutt.

9.33 pm: BJP has won 219 seats and is leading on 36. The Samajwadi Party has won 79 seats and leading on 32.

8.54 pm: Congress has won two seats in Uttar Pradesh.

8.04 pm: BJP has won 166 seats and is leading in 87. Samajwadi Party has won 62, whereas Congress has won two.

7.48 pm: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav won from Karhal constituency. He won 60.12% of total votes cast.

7.06 pm: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi says that he respects Uttar Pradesh’s decision of voting BJP to power again, reports ANI.

“All political parties trying to hide their defeat by raising EVM [electronic voting machine] issues, it’s not EVM’s fault, but the chip in people’s minds,” he says. “There has been a success but it’s 80-20. We’ll start working again from tomorrow and I believe we’ll do better next time.”

7 pm: BJP wins 103 seats, leads in 149.

6.19 pm: In his victory speech, Adityanath thanked the residents of Uttar Pradesh for making the Bharatiya Janata Party win with majority. At the time of his speech, the party had won 71 seats and was leading in 178.

6.14 pm: Chief Minister Adityanath lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Bharatiya Janata Party has been leading in four of the five states, where counting of votes is in progress.

“Today BJP and alliances have won in UP and got full majority… I would like to thank the people of UP,” Adityanath says, according to News18. “For the first time, seven phases of the elections and counting have gone smoothly. I would like to thank the Election Commission as well. This victory is a win for PM Modi’s policies and people trust PM Modi and have granted another chance to serve better.”

5.56 pm: Bahujan Samaj Party is leading in a single seat. In the afternoon, it was leading in two seats.

5.30 pm: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath is leading by 65,104 votes in Gorakhpur Urban constituency, according to the Election Commission.

5.10 pm: Shiv Sena leader Priyanka Chaturvedi congratulates Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath on Assembly election results.

“Hoping all the promises made to the people of the state and its progress come true under your collective leadership,” she says.

4.58 pm: Union Minister Giriraj Singh says BJP’s victory is a win of “rashtrawaad, vikaswaad and kaamwaad” (nationalism, development and work), PTI reports. He says the Opposition parties tried to “vitiate the atmosphere” over matters like farmers’ protests but people have expressed their faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

4.45 pm: The Bharatiya Janata Party has won 16 seats and is leading in 236 other constituencies, according to the Election Commission’s latest figures. The Samajwadi Party is leading in 117 seats.

4.30 pm: Congress leader Randeep Surjewala says the Assembly election results in five states have come against the expectations of the party, ANI reports. “But we accept that we failed to get the blessings of the people,” Surjewala says. “Sonia Gandhi has decided to convene Congress Working Committee meeting soon to introspect the results.”

4.15 pm: The state president of the Samajwadi Party, Naresh Uttam Patel, says that the ruling BJP is spreading rumours of its victory, PTI reports. “Till now, only 50% counting is over. By celebrating, the BJP is spreading rumours,” he claims.

As per the latest results on the Election Commission, the BJP has won nine seats and is leading on 244 seats. The Samajwadi Party is ahead on 144 seats.

3.55 pm: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi says he accepts the verdict of the people.

“Best wishes to those who have won the mandate,” he says in a tweet. “My gratitude to all Congress workers and volunteers for their hard work and dedication. We will learn from this and keep working for the interests of the people of India.”

The Congress is on its way to facing defeat in all five poll-bound states, as per current figures.

3.45 pm: BJP supporters celebrate outside party office in Lucknow.

3.30 pm: BJP leader Sangeet Som is trailing behind in the Sardhana constituency. Samajwadi Party candidate Atul Pradhan is ahead by over 7,000 votes there, according to the Election Commission.

3.20 pm: The BJP has won in 3 seats and is ahead in 244 seats, as per data on the Election Commission. The Samajwadi Party is leading in 117 seats.

3.15 pm: Union Minister Anurag Thakur credits BJP workers for the result in Uttar Pradesh, reports ANI. “The victory in these states wouldn’t have been possible without the hard work of our party workers,” he says. “Bulldozer has become a symbol of uprooting mafias and criminals”.

2.30 pm: Swami Prasad Maurya, who quit the Adityanath Cabinet to join the Samajwadi Party, is trailing in the Fazilnagar constituency by a margin of over 25,000 votes, according to the Election Commission.

2.20 pm: Rita Bahuguna Joshi, the BJP MP from Allahabad, says the mood of the public is set for development, according to ANI.

“This is the win of ‘Modi-Yogi’ double engine government,” Joshi says. “People have voted on the issues of security and infrastructure. After 30 years a same party is forming the government for a second time.”

2:00 pm: Here’s who is leading on top seats across Uttar Pradesh, according to the Election Commission.

• Aligarh: Zafar Alam (SP)
• Amethi: Maharaji Prajapti (BJP)
• Bareilly: Arun Kumar (BJP)
• Dadri: Tejpal Singh Nagar (BJP)
• Ghaziabad: Atul Garg (BJP)
• Gorakhpur: Adityanath (BJP)
• Hathras: Anjula Singh Mahaur (BJP)
• Kairana: Mriganka Singh (BJP)
• Kunda: Raghuraj Pratap Singh (Jansatta Dal Loktantrik)
• Lakhimpur: Yogesh Verma (BJP)
• Meerut: Kamal Dutt Sharma (BJP)
• Rampur: Azam Khan (SP)
• Varanasi Cantt: Saurabh Srivastava (BJP)

1.45 pm: Congress workers blame the electronic voting machines for the party’s poor performance in the Assembly elections, reports PTI. They carry placards saying: “Democracy is being murdered through electronic voting machines”

1.35 pm: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath is leading by 31,400 votes in Gorakhpur Urban constituency, according to the Election Commission.

Adityanath has secured 47,827 votes while his nearest rival Samajwadi Party’s Subhawati Shukla has got 16,427 votes.

1.25 pm: The candidates of the Rashtriya Lok Dal are leading in nine of the 33 seats where it was fighting the Uttar Pradesh assembly election, PTI reports, citing Election Commission data.

The party is leading in Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat, Baraut, Chhaprauli, Budhana, Khatauli, Rampur Maniharan, among others. The party had decided to ally with the Samajwadi Party for the election.

1.05 pm: Uttar Pradesh Congress state president Ajay Kumar Lallu is trailing from Tamkuhi Raj constituency, according to the Election Commission.

12.50 pm: Party workers of the BJP celebrate outside party office in Lucknow, ANI reports.

12.40 pm: The BJP has over 40% total vote share as it leads in 248 seats in Uttar Pradesh. The vote share of the Samajwadi Party is 31.6%

12.15 pm: As the BJP crosses the majority mark in Uttar Pradesh, state’s law minister Brajesh Pathak tells NDTV: “People have yet again shown confidence in our government.”

12 pm: The BJP is leading in 249 seats, as per data on the Election Commission. The Samajwadi Party is leading in 111 seats, followed by the Bahujan Samaj Party in five seats and the Congress in three seats.

11.50 am: In Sirathu, Samajwadi Party candidate Pallavi Patel is leading over Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya with a margin of over 2,000 votes, as per the data by the Election Commission.

11.45 am: Visuals from Uttar Pradesh:

11.35 am: In Kairana, the BJP leader Mriganka Singh is leading Samajwadi Party’s Nahid Hasan by over a thousand votes, according to Election Commission.

Before the 2017 Assembly elections, the BJP had alleged that Hindu families were forced to migrate from the area due to threats and extortion by “criminal elements belonging to a particular community”. Kairana has a 50% Muslim population.

11.15 am: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav arrives at the party office in Lucknow, ANI reports. The party is currently leading on 103 seats in Uttar Pradesh.

11.05 am: Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party president Om Prakash Rajbhar is leading in Zahoorabad constituency, according to the Election Commission.

Rajbhar’s party is an ally of the Samajwadi Party for this election. In 2017, it was with the BJP.

10.55 am: The BJP is leading in 261 seats in Uttar Pradesh, NDTV reports. The Samajwadi Party is leading in 125 seats, followed by the Bahujan Samaj Party with eight seats and Congress with five seats. The majority mark in the state is 202 seats.

10.37 am: Dharam Singh Saini, who quit the Adityanath Cabinet to join the Samajwadi Party, is leading by over 10,000 votes in Nakur constituency, according to Election Commission.

10.30 am: Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav tweets: “Public is winning and hooliganism is losing”.

10.20 am: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is leading in Karhal seat, reports NDTV.

10.10 am: BJP leader Pankaj Singh, who is the son of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, is leading with nearly 8,000 votes ahead of Samajwadi Party’s Sunil Chaudhary, as per the Election Commission.

10.07 am: The BJP is leading in 137 seats, as per data on the Election Commission. The Samajwadi Party is leading in 60 seats, followed by the Congress in four seats and the Bahujan Samaj Party in two seats.

10.00 am: The counting process is taking place smoothly and officials are making sure transparent counting process in all the constituencies, says Awanish Awasthi, Additional Chief Secretary Home Department in Uttar Pradesh, ANI reports.

9.45 am: Here’s the vote share of the BJP so far in Uttar Pradesh, according to the Election Commission.

9.30 am: Trends shows the BJP has crossed the majority mark of 202 in Uttar Pradesh, NDTV reports. The party is leading in 214 seats.

9.15 am: Early trends show the BJP is leading in 101 seats in Uttar Pradesh, NDTV reports. The Samajwadi Party is leading in 42 seats, followed by the BSP with four seats and Congress with two seats.

9.04 am: The BJP alliance is leading in 76 seats, the Samajwadi Party coalition 31, the Bahujan Samaj Party four, and the Congress one, as of 9.04 am, reports NDTV.

News18 projects BJP alliance to be leading in 99 seats, the SP coalition 40 and the BSP and the Congress four each.

8.59 am: As early trends shows BJP leading, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya tweets: “Public is winning, hooliganism is losing”.

8.54 am: NDTV reports that the Samajwadi Party is leading in 14 seats, while News18 says it is ahead in 37, as of 8.54 am.

8.52 am: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is among the leading candidates, reports NDTV.

8.48 am: NDTV projects the BJP is leading in 19 seats, and News18 projects 67, as of 8.48 am.

8.29 am: The BJP-led coalition continues to lead in Uttar Pradesh, followed by the Samajwadi Party and its allies, reports NDTV.

8.24 am: The counting of votes is being held amid a three-layer security security arrangement with cameras installed at all centres, reports PTI.

“Adequate AROs [assistant returning officers] have been deployed in every Assembly constituency for interruption-free counting,” says the senior poll panel official, adding necessary Covid-19 protocol is also being maintained.

8.16 am: The Bharatiya Janata Party alliance is leading in six seats and the Samajwadi Party coalition two, reports NDTV.

8.11 am: Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra reiterates that the electronic voting machines in Varanasi were used for training purposes, reports ANI.

“The ADM’s [additional district magistrates] mistake was that he did not inform political parties about the movement of EVMs for training purposes as per standard operating procedure,” he adds.

8.05 am: Samajwadi Party workers staged protests in Azamgarh and Moradabad on Wednesday claiming that they have recovered blank ballot papers from a vehicle.

In a tweet, the party alleged that the party workers caught the car carrying 10,000 plain ballot papers was trying to enter a strong room in Azamgarh after switching off its headlights.

8 am: Counting of votes for Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections begins.

7.50 am: The Election Commission has announced that the Delhi chief electoral officer will be deputed as special officer in Meerut, while the Bihar CEO will oversee counting in Varanasi, reports The Indian Express.

“Commission has also deputed two special officers – Chief Electoral Officer Delhi to Meerut and Chief Electoral Officer Bihar to Varanasi to supervise the counting arrangements,” says a statement.

7.20 am: If the BJP wins, as per the predictions of the exit polls, then it would be the first time in three decades that an incumbent government would return to power in the state.

7.12 am: Exit polls have predicted that the BJP-led alliance will win 242 seats in Uttar Pradesh, while the Samajwadi Party and its partners will win 143 of them.

Also read:

Exit polls: BJP likely to get majority in UP, AAP in Punjab, tight race in Goa and Uttarakhand

7.15 am: On the eve of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election results, the Election Commission removed three officials from poll duty after the Samajwadi Party alleged violations of protocol in the movement of electronic voting machines.

7 am: The counting of votes for Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, considered as the semi-finals before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, will begin at 8 am.