Lucknow,may 24
The alliance of Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party (SP) failed to stop the BJP to make march right into Uttar Pradesh, the state that sends the highest number of lawmakers to Parliament. The state voted in seven phases and saw a voter turnout of around 54 per cent.The BJP is leading in 59 of the state’s 80 seats. The alliance is ahead in 20 seats and the Congress in one — Sonia Gandhi’s Raebareli. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi trailed BJP’s Smriti Irani in Amethi, the Gandhi family bastion from where no Gandhi has ever lost. Prime Minister Narendra Modi led by comfortable margins in Varanasi and Varun Gandhi and Hema Malini of the BJP won in Pilbhit and Mathura respectively. SP’s Akhilesh Yadav and Azam Khan, however, led by a steady margin in Azamgarh and Rampur respectively. Union ministers Rajnath Singh led in Lucknow and Maneka Gandhi is engaged in a see-saw battle in Sultanpur.The key issues: Farm issues, reservations, Pulwama terror attack, law-and-order situation, issues related to minorities and development projects.
