Uttar Pradesh is not only significant because of the number of parliamentary constituencies under it, but also because it holds the electoral turfs of many political bigwigs that shape national politics, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress President Rahul Gandhi. These seats will be keenly observed as any setback on these can have great political repercussions.
Among VIP seats, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is projected to win from Varanasi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh from Lucknow, Union Minister VK Singh from Ghaziabad.
The Samajwadi Party is likely to retain Mainpuri with its founder Mulayam Singh slated to win from his traditional turf. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav is likely to win from Azamgarh.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi are set to grab their traditional bastions of Amethi and Rae Bareli.
In Muzaffarnagar, RLD chief Ajit Singh is likely to suffer defeat at the hands of BJP's Sanjeev Balyan, while his son Jayant Chaudhary is predicted to win from Baghpat seat.
According to the survey, actor-turned politician and sitting MP Hema Malini will help the BJP retain the Mathura seat while senior SP leader Azam Khan will defeat Jaya Prada, who recently joined the BJP, in Rampur.
In major setbacks, Union Minister Manoj Sinha is projected to lose from Ghazipur, his cabinet colleague Mahesh Sharma from Gautam Budh Nagar and UP Minister Rita Bahuguna Joshi from Allahabad (Prayagraj) seat.
BJP leader Varun Gandhi, who swapped his Lok Sabha seat with mother Maneka Gandhi, is likely to win from Pilibhit with a narrow margin.
Survey prediction for VIP seats:
- Varanasi: NDA
- Rampur- Mahagathbandhan
- Ghaziabad- NDA
- Amethi: INC
- Raebareli: INC
- Mathura- NDA
- Pilibhit- NDA
- Prayagraj: Mahagathbandhan
- Mainpuri: Mahagathbandhan
- Awadh: NDA
- Azamgarh: Mahagathbandhan
- Muzaffarnagar: NDA
- Baghpat: Mahagathbandhan
- Gautam Buddh Nagar- Mahagathbandhan
- Bulandshahr- NDA
- Ghazipur: Mahagathbandhan