The BJP and its allies marched ahead in 305 Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh as per trends from all the 403 seats, which showed the SP-Congress coalition leading in 68 places and BSP in only 20.
Trends available till midday showed that the saffron party and its allies Apna Dal (Soneylal Patel) and Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) were way ahead, relegating rivals SP-Congress combine and the BSP to the second and third slots.
The fledgling SP-Congress coalition was ahead in 70 seats (SP in 59 and Congress in 11), while BSP trailed far behind with leads in only 18 places.
Gayatri Prajapati, who is absconding after the UP Police booked him in an alleged gangrape case and attempt to rape a minor, was trailing in Amethi, where Garima Singh (BJP), the first wife of Congress leader Sanjay Sinh, was leading.
Ameeta Singh (Cong), the present wife of Sanjay Sinh was also trailing. In Noida, Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s son Pankaj Singh was leading by an impressive margin.
BJP leaders today credited ‘Modi wave’ for the party’s stong showing in the high stakes Uttar Pradesh elections. On the next chief minister in the state, they said the decision will be taken by the BJP parliamentary board and the legislature party in the state soon.
The results of the elections, which were fought under party chief Amit Shah, show that the BJP has been able to dispel the perception of being a party of upper castes only as now it commands the support of all sections of the society, including Dalits, they said.
“It is a Modi wave. The wave which started with 2014 Lok Sabha elections is continuing in 2017 and the momentum will go beyond the 2019 general elections,” BJP Uttar Pradesh chief Keshav Prasad Maurya said.
“The credit goes to Prime Minister Modi, his government’s pro-poor policies and party chief Amit Shah’s strategy. People have fought the elections on our behalf in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand and results have vindicated their faith in us,” party general secretary Kailash Vijaywargia said.
Another BJP general secretary O P Mathur, who is in- charge of party affairs in Uttar Pradesh, said the state has become “Modi-fied” and so has the country.