The Bharatiya Janata Party is expected to lead in the upcoming elections in Uttar Pradesh. According to the India Today-Axis Opinion Poll, the party will win 170 to 183 seats.
Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party – or BSP – is expected to be not too far behind, with a total of 115 to 124 seats, according to the poll. The incumbent Samajwadi Party will be at third spot with 94 to 103 seats.
The Congress party, which has been vigorously campaigning in the state, is currently nowhere in the race, hardly scoring double digits. Last week, Rahul Gandhi concluded his month-long Kisan Yatra in Uttar Pradesh – starting from Deoria to Delhi. Currently, the Congress has a mere 28 out of 403 Assembly seats and 2 out of 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
On the other hand, the BJP is expected to gain from the news of India’s surgical strikes on Pakistani soil last month, though the campaigning in the state has only just begun. On Dussehra, the party’s star campaigner Narendra Modi created history by becoming the first Prime Minister to celebrate the festival outside New Delhi – in Lucknow.
As it stands right now, Uttar Pradesh is looking at a hung Assembly.
Also Read: Rahul Gandhi’s Kisan Yatra: Is This the New Face of the Congress?
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Who Will Be the Next UP CM?
Mayawati emerged as the most favourite candidate for the state chief minister.
At least 31 percent of respondents wanted Mayawati to be the next chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. Akhilesh Yadav, the current CM, garnered 27 percent of votes, while Mulayam Singh Yadav scored only one percent.
Among Congress leaders, only two percent voted for Priyanka Gandhi and one percent for Sheila Dikshit.
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