2024 Lok Sabha Election Results LIVE: Samajwadi Party Leads INDIA’s Charge in UP, Keeps BJP at Bay

Samajwadi Party

In the 2019 elections, the BJP secured 62 of Uttar Pradesh’s 80 seats, with its ally, Apna Dal (Sonelal), adding two more. The Samajwadi Party (SP) won only five seats, while the Congress managed just two.

Fast forward to 2024, the Samajwadi Party is spearheading the opposition INDIA bloc’s efforts in Uttar Pradesh, a crucial state with the highest number of MPs (80) sent to the Lok Sabha. As of 9:30 PM, the SP had won 29 seats and was leading in eight more, totaling 37—its best performance in a UP Lok Sabha election. The previous best was 36 seats in 2004 when the Congress-led UPA was victorious.

Additionally, Akhilesh Yadav appeared poised to claim victory in Kannauj, a family stronghold, leading by 1.7 lakh votes against the BJP’s Subrat Pathak at 9 PM. His wife, Dimple Yadav, had secured a win in Mainpuri.

The BJP had won 28 seats and was leading in five others, with its ally Apna Dal (Sonelal) securing one seat. The Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) also claimed one seat. Among the BJP’s victories were Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi and Karan Bhushan Singh from Kaiserganj, despite the controversy surrounding his father, Brij Bhushan Singh, who faces sexual assault allegations.

In the last Lok Sabha election, the BJP won 62 seats, and Apna Dal (Sonelal) won two, while the SP managed only five seats. In 2014, the SP also won five seats, a significant drop from 23 in the 2009 elections.

The Congress, on the other hand, won six seats, including the significant Amethi and Raebareli constituencies. Kishori Lal and Rahul Gandhi defeated BJP’s Smriti Irani and BSP’s Thakur Prasad Yadav, respectively. The Congress’s win in Amethi by nearly 1.7 lakh votes was noteworthy, reclaiming a seat historically held by ex-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

Rahul Gandhi, who contested from Raebareli after his mother, Sonia Gandhi, moved to the Rajya Sabha, secured a record 3.9 lakh vote lead over the BJP’s Dinesh Singh.

Samajwadi Party’s Strong Showing in UP

The SP’s current success in UP is unprecedented, achieving what neither Congress nor BSP could in the last two national or state elections—defeating the BJP. This result, however, is not entirely unexpected.

In the 2022 Assembly elections, the BJP dominated with 255 of the 417 seats. The SP was the closest rival, securing 111 seats—a significant increase of 64 seats from five years prior, partly driven by widespread farmers’ protests against the BJP’s policies. This support seems to have translated into the 2024 election results.

UP Lok Sabha Election Results: Exit Poll Predictions

Uttar Pradesh has been the surprise element in this election. Exit polls had predicted a strong BJP performance, with the party and its NDA partners winning 68 seats. The INDIA bloc was expected to secure just 12 seats, with some polls predicting as few as six seats. However, TV5 Telugu stood out by predicting a narrow majority for the opposition group with 43 seats.

The Samajwadi Party contested as part of the Congress-led INDIA opposition bloc, formed in June last year to challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP. The SP fielded 63 candidates and the Congress 17, a significant arrangement as it was the first seat-sharing deal within the INDIA bloc, despite earlier difficulties in other states and tensions between Congress and Trinamool in Bengal.

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