Lucknow: The Bhartiya Janta Party on Saturday swept the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections clean after stunning victory with an absolute majority of 325 seats, paving the way for party’s domination in the future politics. Whereas, Samajwadi Party, BSP and other parties bagged 54, 19 and 5 seats respectively.

Powered by an aggressive campaign spearheaded by Modi, BJP candidates were on the road to victory in a whopping 311 of the 403 constituencies as officials counted the millions of votes polled in the staggered election. The imminent victory triggered widespread celebrations all across the country's most populous state as well as at the BJP headquarters in Delhi.

As the Samajwadi Party, the Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) licked their wounds, Bharatiya Janata Party leader and central Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad called the win in UP bigger than the 2014 victory.

Here are latest updates:

  • Samajadi leader Akhilesh Yadav, after accepting his defeat in the election tendered his resignation as UP CM to Governor Ram Naik.

  • In a press briefing, Akhilesh conceded his defeat and said, "may be people didn't like the Express way he made and are expecting a bullet train from Modi"

  • Alliance with Congress was beneficial for us and it will continue. Two young leaders came together: Akhilesh

  • We want the new govt. to do better work than what we did: Akhilesh

  • If questions are raised on EVM tampering then government should ensure it is probed: Akhilesh

  • We accept the mandate. This is democracy. Thank all party workers: Akhilesh Yadav

  • BJP's Rita Bahuguna Joshi wins from Lucknow Cantt; Mulayam's daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav loses by 33,000 votes.


 



  • Every moment of our time,everything we do is for welfare & wellbeing of the people of India.We believe in the power of 125 crore Indians: PM

  • Congratulations to @AmitShah,party office bearers & state units for their exemplary work in taking the party to new heights:PM @narendramodi

  • I salute the hardwork of BJP Karyakartas.They have tirelessly worked hard at the grassroots level &won the confidence of the people: PM Modi

  • Am overjoyed that BJP has received unprecedented support from all sections of society. Huge support from the youth is gladdening: PM Modi

  • I thank people of Punjab for giving @Akali_Dal_ & @BJP4Punjab the opportunity to serve for 10 yrs& for the support we got in these polls: PM

  • Gratitude to the people of India for the continued faith, support and affection for the BJP. This is very humbling & overwhelming: PM Modi

  • Party yogyata ke aadhar par chehra chunegi: Amit Shah on UP CM candidate

  • Move past Hindu-Muslim, a voter is a voter; politics of development should take place: Amit Shah

  • We will form government in 4 states (UP, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa), even in Punjab we got a good vote share: Amit Shah

  • Independent candidate Raja Bhaiya wins from Kunda.

  • I thank the people of Jaswant Nagar for my victory. Rest we accept people's mandate : Shivpal Yadav, SP


 Image: ANI



  • CM Akhilesh Yadav to address the media at 5 PM today



  • Trends show BJP's Suresh Rana leading over BSP's Abdul Waris Khan in Thana Bhawan seat in Shamli by more than 1,000 votes.

  • Today nation is standing with PM Modi. This is the victory of people of UP and Uttarakhand: Union Minister Piyush Goyal




  • BJP candidate Brijesh Singh wins Muslim-dominated Deoband seat




  • Trends show BJP's Sangeet Singh Som is ahead of his nearest SP rival Atul Pradhan by a margin of 8,359 votes in Sardhana seat.

  • BJP ahead in 300 seats out of 403, rivals completely decimated




  • People of UP have shunned SP-Congress.They want development without any discrimination and that's why have voted for BJP: Yogi

  • As per early trends, BJP getting majority in state







  • Mulayam's daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav trailing from Lucknow Cantt


 Image: ANI

  • Rita Bahuguna Joshi ahead in Lucknow cantt









  • BJP ahead in all big urban cities

  • Drone cameras being used for surveillance near a counting centre in Lucknow


 Image: ANI

  • Raja Bhaiya ahead in Kunda.

  • BSP's Mukhtar Ansari ahead in Mau

  • BJP candidate from Lucknow Cantt Rita Bahuguna Joshi offers prayers at Hazratganj's Hanuman Temple


 Image: ANI

  • SP accuses EC of being biased

  • Samajwadi Party workers perform Havan in Lucknow

  • We are winning with 2/3rd majority, SP and BSP will be wiped out: Keshav Prasad Maurya, UP BJP Chief

  • Counting of votes to start at 8 am


Counting of the ballots for the 403 assembly seats will begin at 8 a.m. and continue till the process is completed and the results declared.

Earlier in the day, Chief Electoral Officer T. Venkatesh interacted with all District Magistrates and district police chiefs through video conferencing to ensure the preparedness of the administrative machinery.

Venkatesh directed all District Returning Officers to ensure that all preparations are in place at all the 78 counting centres. Postal ballots will be counted first and then the electronic voting machines (EVMs) will be taken to the counting centers.

At places where the distance between the strongrooms and the counting centers is more, "sanitized corridors" will be created.

Mobile phones banned inside counting centres:

Mobile phones have been banned inside the counting centres and information about the developments will be given to journalists only at the media centres made at all counting centres.

4,853 contestants fate to be decided:

A total of 4,853 contestants tried their luck at the hustings in the 2017 state assembly elections. Of the total contestants, 4,370 were men and 482 women. This time one member of the third-gender also joined the fray -- in Lakhimpur Kheri.

In the 2012 state assembly elections, the number of candidates in the fray was 6,839, of whom 6,253 were men and 582 women. That year, four third-gender candidates had tried their luck at the hustings.

67 contestants above 70-year:

While most of the contestants in the 2017 assembly elections were young, there were 67 contestants above 70 as well. The oldest candidate to have contested was 91-year-old Jai Devi, who was in the fray in Khairagarh, Agra.

Maximum number of candidates fielded by Bahujan Samaj Party:

The maximum number of candidates -- 403 -- were fielded by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) followed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 384, Samajwadi Party (SP) 311, Congress 114, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) 277, Lok Dal 81, Peace Party 68, Communist Party of India (CPI) 68 and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) 26.

A total of 1,462 Independents also contested the keenly fought elections this time.

Polling was held in the state in seven phases spread from February 11 to March 8.

(With inputs from agencies)