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BJP trails Samajwadi Party in Faizabad (Ayodhya-Ram Mandir) constituency
BJP candidate Lallu Singh was trailing Samajwadi Party’s Awadesh Prasad in Uttar Pradesh's Faizabad constituency.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was expected to romp home in the constituency where the Ayodhya Ram Mandir was built and inaugurated in the run-up to the general elections earlier this year. But surprise, surprise!
BJP candidate Lallu Singh was trailing Samajwadi Party’s Awadesh Prasad in Uttar Pradesh's Faizabad constituency.
According to the Election Commission, Lallu Singh is trailing Awadesh Pradesh in Faizabad by a slim margin of 4,791 votes in a neck and neck contest.
In another big surprise, the underdog, INDIA bloc, is leading the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, which had emerged as the bastion of the saffron party since 2014.
Belying the exit polls, which predicted a landslide triumph of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress-led coalition was leading in 42 Lok Sabha seats. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was leading in 37 seats.
INDIA partners -- SP and the Congress -- were leading in 34 and eight seats, respectively.
At 80, Uttar Pradesh sends the most number of members to the Lok Sabha. A below-bar performance in the most populous state in the country will likely dash the BJP's hopes of equaling its 2019 tally of 303 seats.
The stalwarts of both the BJP and Samajwadi Party are expected to sail through. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is leading in Varanasi, Rajnath Singh is leading in Lucknow.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and his wife Dimple Yadav are leading in Kannauj and Mainpuri respectively.
Congress candidates Rahul Gandhi and Kishori Lal Sharma are expected to win in Rae Bareli and Amethi respectively.
The BJP's Arun Govil and Hema Malini are also ahead in Meerut and Mathura.
Senior BJP leaders Smriti Irani, Ajay Mishra Teni, Maneka Gandhi and Anupriya Patel of the Apna Dal(S) are trailing in the Amethi, Kheri, Sultanpur and Mirzapur seats respectively.
With inputs from PTI
