UP Lok Sabha Election Results 2019 Highlights: Modi retains Varanasi, Sonia Gandhi re-elected to Rae Bareli

In the wake of the Congress' dismal performance in the Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh, state party president Raj Babbar has sent his resignation to Rahul Gandhi. Babbar has sent his resignation to Congress president Rahul Gandhi , a spokesman of the party's state unit Rajiv Bakshi told PTI here. He has sent his resignation taking responsibility for the party's showing in the just-concluded polls, Bakshi said. Babbar tweeted in Hindi on Friday," The results are depressing for the Uttar Pradesh Congress. I find myself guilty of not discharging my responsibility in a proper manner." "I will meet the leadership and apprise it of my views. Congratulations to the winners for winning the confidence of the people," he said.

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— Raj Babbar (@RajBabbarMP) May 24, 2019

Turning caste calculations on its head, and upending the formidable arithmetic of the Mandal formula’s main protagonists in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the BJP-led NDA has virtually flattened the politics of identity by winning 103 of the 120 Lok Sabha seats in the two states. Read Ravish Tiwari's explainer on BJP’s surge in the Hindi heartland.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah have met BJP veteran leader Murli Manohar Joshi to seek his blessings, a day after the BJP won a massive victory in the Lok Sabha elections 2019. The leaders had also met L K Advani this morning.

Called on respected Advani Ji. The BJP’s successes today are possible because greats like him spent decades building the party and providing a fresh ideological narrative to the people. pic.twitter.com/liXK8cfsrI

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 24, 2019

Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi is a scholar and intellectual par excellence. His contribution towards improving Indian education is remarkable. He has always worked to strengthen the BJP and mentor several Karyakartas, including me.

Met him this morning and sought his blessings. pic.twitter.com/gppfDt7KiB

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 24, 2019

Congressmen blame the “goodwill” gesture by the Bahujan Samaj Party-Samajwadi Party alliance by not contesting the seat coupled with the message that Rahul Gandhi might leave Amethi after winning both Wayanad and Amethi, as a twin force behind his defeat. People in Amethi said that the BSP vote bank shifted to the BJP this time, causing loss to the Congress. Read more

While the alliance between the BSP and the SP managed to make some dent in the mandate that the BJP got in Uttar Pradesh in 2014 — 71 seats — the BSP emerged to be the major gainer. The BJP lost numbers compared to 2014 but gained in terms of vote-share. The SP got around the same number of seats but lost in terms of vote-share. The BSP, which led on 10 seats, maintained its vote-share.

Despite losing about 15 seats to the alliance, the BJP’s vote share increased in the state from 42.63 per cent in 2014 to approximately 49.5 per cent this time. The BSP maintained the same vote-share (around 19.27), while the SP’s share dipped from 22 per cent in 2014 to about 18 per cent. The Congress’s vote-share came down from 7.53 per cent to about 6.3 per cent. The party got a major shock in Amethi, where AICC president Rahul Gandhi lost to Union minister Smriti Irani of BJP by about 55,000 votes. Irani maintained her lead against Rahul through all the rounds of counting. Read more

Riding on the crest of the Modi wave, BJP and its ally in Uttar Pradesh Thursday dished out a grand performance in Uttar Pradesh, halting the efforts of the fledgling 'mahagathbandhan' to challenge the saffron brigade in the crucial Hindi heartland state. As counting progressed past midnight, the BJP and the Apna Dal (S) consolidated their position, winning 54 seats together out of the 80 seats at stake. The BJP was leading on another 10. The BSP won eight and was leading on two seats, while its alliance partner SP won four and was leading on one. Congress won the lone Raebareli seat of Sonia Gandhi. In 2014 polls, BJP had won 71 seats and its ally Apna Dal (S) two, while Samajwadi Party bagged five seats and Congress two. In three bypolls, the opposition had wrested Gorakhpur, Phulpur and Kairana from the BJP. This time, the Modi wave not only smashed the SP-BSP alliance, but also uprooted Congress president Rahul Gandhi from the party bastion of Amethi, where Union minister Smriti Irani was leading comfortably to avenge her defeat in 2014. (PTI)

BJP's Bholanath won the Machhlishahr seat in Uttar Pradesh by just 181 votes, the lowest margin recorded in the Lok Sabha elections, defeating Tribhuvan Ram of the BSP. This is the lowest margin of victory among the results declared for more than 375 seats by the Election Commission of India (ECI) so far. Going by the latest available data, the victory margin of Bholanath -- who polled 4,88,397 votes -- is likely to be the lowest. In the 2014 general elections, Machhlishahr seat was won by BJP's Ram Charitra Nishad by more than 1.72 lakh votes.

Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav has won from the Azamgarh seat, defeating Bhojpuri star and BJP candidate Dinesh Lal Yadav Nirahua by over 2.59 lakh votes. Yadav has won by a margin of 2,59,874 votes by nearest rival Nirahua.

Sanjeev Kumar Balyan retained his ground in Muzaffarnagar and won by a margin of just over 6000 votes. He faced a strong challenge from RLD's Ajit Singh. 

Dimple Yadav, wife of Akhilesh Yadav lost the Kannauj seat to BJP's Subrat Pathak. She faced the defeat by a margin of over 10,000 votes. 

Samajwadi Party leader Mohammad Azam Khan wins from Rampur seat, defeats BJP's Jaya Prada by over one lakh votes.

BJP has won the Aligarh seat with Satish Kumar Gautam defeating his closest rival BSP's Ajeet Baliyan by 2.29 lakh votes.

Scores of BJP supporters came out on the roads in Noida amid slight rains Thursday evening, with traders distributing sweets to celebrate Mahesh Sharma's victory from Gautam Buddh Nagar seat in the Lok Sabha polls. City's popular Sector 18 market remained the hub of celebrations where 350 kg laddoos were ordered by local market associations, their office-bearers said. The traders' community, considered a traditional supporter of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), hoped that Sharma would continue to work for the market and remove obstacles that the businessmen face. (PTI)

Former Army chief General VK Singh is headed towards another term and is leading from Ghaziabad with over 5 lakh votes. 

Nail-biting finish: BJP wins UP's Machhlishahr seat by just 181 votes defeating the BSP candidate. Lowest victory margin?@IndianExpress @decision2019 #Decision2019

— Avishek Dastidar (@avishekgd) May 23, 2019

BJP candidate Virendra Singh won from the Ballia seat in Uttar Pradesh, he defeated his nearest rival by a margin of 15519 votes. 

Union Minister Smriti Irani offers prayers at a temple in Amethi; she is leading by 48078 votes in the parliamentary constituency. Congress President Rahul Gandhi, outgoing Amethi MP, has conceded defeat pic.twitter.com/uqxGzt7eNX

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) May 23, 2019

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— Yogi Adityanath (@myogiadityanath) May 23, 2019

Union Minister Maneka Gandhi won from the Sultanpur Lok Sabha seat defeating her nearest rival BSP candidate Chandra Bhadra Singh Sonu by over 14,000 votes.

Union minister and BJP leader Mahesh Sharma is leading by a margin of over two lakh votes from the Gautam Budhh Nagar seat after 28 rounds of counting for the Lok Sabha polls, the district election office said. By 8.30 pm, Sharma had 6.45 lakh votes across the five assembly segments of Noida, Jewar, Dadri, Sikandrabad and Khurja that constitute the Gautam Buddh Nagar parliamentary seat, it said.

Samajwadi Party chief and former CM Akhilesh Yadav is leading from the Azamgarh seat is leading by 2.5 lakh votes against BJP's Dinesh lal Yadav. 

BJP's Varun Gandhi has won from the Pilibhit seat. He has won with a margin of 255627 votes. 

BJP's Rajnath Singh retained Lucknow with a margin of 3.47 lakh votes. He was pitted against Samajwadi Party's Poonam Sinha

UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi reelected from Rae Bareli. She defeated Congress turncoat Dinesh Yadav by a margin of over 1.5 lakh votes

Surpassing his record win of 3.37 lakh votes in 2014 general elections, BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi was reelected in his Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi by a margin of nearly 4.80 lakh votes. Shalini Yadav, the SP-BSP Mahagathbandhan candidate is second, while Congress’ Ajay Rai is trailing at third position.

Interestingly, the BJP was seemingly so confident of a win in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Varanasi that the Prime Minister did not address even a single public campaign rally here. He only came to file his nomination and held a massive roadshow prior to that.

BSP chief Mayawati called the results "against the expectations and sentiments of people." "Anyway, when all the institutions of the country start bending their knees before the government, the public has to take a stand," she said, reported news agency ANI. 

Banda goes to BJP. RK Singh Patel won by a margin of over 50,000 votes

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati said the election result went against the expectations and sentiments of people. "Today's result is against the expectations and sentiments of people. Anyway, when all the institutions of the country start bending their knees before the government, the public has to take a stand," Mayawati said on BJP's clean sweep. 

Nothing is impossible: Smriti Irani. Irani is leading by a wide margin in Amethi

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— Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) May 23, 2019

Bhojpuri actor Ravi Kishan won by a three-lakh margin in Gorakhpur, a seat won by Adityanath in 2014. "This is a victory of the truth."

BJP candidate from Gorakhpur, Ravi Kishan, wins by 3,01,664 votes. Says, "This is a victory of the truth." #ElectionResults2019 pic.twitter.com/IiwZY8fSD2

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) May 23, 2019

In his first address to the nation after the Lok Sabha election results, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi conceded defeat in his home turf Amethi and congratulated BJP’s, Smriti Irani. Amethi, a traditional Congress bastion, had been with the party since 1980. Irani is leading by a margin of 35,000 votes in the seat.

In Uttar Pradesh, the first seat is declared. Bahraich has been won by BJP.

BJP Mathura candidate Hema Malini congratulates Modi and Shah for NDA's performance in Lok Sabha polls

What a clean sweep!The opposition & the Congress silenced totally!Modiji, after having suffered so many insults,many personal, stands totally vindicated as a true nationalist in whom the masses have reposed complete faith & view as a leader who can make India excel in all spheres

— Hema Malini (@dreamgirlhema) May 23, 2019

Amethi’s first tryst with the Nehru-Gandhi family happened in 1980 when Sanjay Gandhi won the seat. In the next three decades, the constituency changed hands across three other members of the family. As Rahul Gandhi faces a scare in his home turf, a look at all the Gandhi's that won from Amethi. Read more

Vote gap in Amethi widens! Smriti Irani now leading by a margin of 19,204 votes

Danish Ali, who made a switch from JD(S) to BSP is leading in Amroha. BJP's Kanwar Singh Tanwar is trailing behind by a margin of 70,000 votes. Ali was general secretary of the JD(S) and was instrumental in talks for forging an alliance between the JD(S) and Congress after the Karnataka Assembly polls last year.

Yogi Adityanath congratulates PM Modi, Amit Shah on NDA's win

The stupendous victory of @BJP4India is a result of visionary leadership of PM Shri @narendramodi, excellent organisational capabilities of President Shri @AmitShah and hard work of millions of party workers.
My heartiest congratulations to everyone on this historic win
Jai Hind

— Chowkidar Yogi Adityanath (@myogiadityanath) May 23, 2019

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's congratulatory message

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Together we grow.

Together we prosper.

Together we will build a strong and inclusive India.

India wins yet again! #VijayiBharat

— Chowkidar Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 23, 2019

In Unnao, Sakshi Maharaj is leading by a margin of nearly 4 lakh votes. Samajwadi Party's Arun Shanker Shukla is trailing. In 2014, Sakshi Maharaj won by a margin of 3.10 lakh votes

As the Congress suffered another humiliating defeat, the big question now is what next for Rahul Gandhi, the grand old party’s chief who had waged a fierce battle but could not translate any of the issues that he had been raising – be it Rafale, ballooning unemployment or widespread agrarian distress, into votes and seats. Congress insiders do not anticipate a major rebellion against the Gandhis. They pose a counter question: Who in the present Congress has the mass base and popularity to call for a Perestroika in the Congress party? Read more 

* Rahul Gandhi trailing behind Smriti Irani by over 9000 votes
* In Kannauj, Samajwadi Party's Dimple Yadav in the lead
* Akhilesh Yadav ahead in Azamgarh
* Mulayam Singh Yadav and Rajnath Singh continue to march ahead in Mainpuri and Lucknow respectively
* Hema Malini in lead in Mathura
* Father-son duo Ajit Singh and Jayant Chaudhary trail in Baghpat and Muzzafarnagar
* Azam Khan maintains the lead in Rampur
* Narendra Modi and Sonia Gandhi continue their lead in Varanasi and Rae Bareli

Narendra Modi will become the first non-Congress Prime Minister to return to power after a full five-year term. In 2014, Narendra Modi’s BJP became the first party since Rajiv Gandhi’s Congress in 1984 to win a full majority on its own; in 2019, it looks set to become the first party since Jawaharlal Nehru’s Congress to return with a majority of its own. This remarkable feat has been powered by a surge in the BJP’s voteshare almost everywhere across the country — a staggering achievement given the party had already set an almost impossibly high bar for itself in 2014. Read more

This election, Congress played its trump card and fielded Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as the UP East General Secretary. Expecting her to be a vote catcher, Congress made her one of the most prominent campaigners in the state. However, as the numbers are coming in, the results have exposed another big myth – that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has a connect with the people. After the results are out, the conclusion is inescapable: She may be a good communicator, an easygoing leader, and may have retained some of the charisma that her father Rajiv Gandhi and grandmother Indira Gandhi had, but the India of 2019 is not the India of the 1970s or 80s. Read more

In yet another upset for the SP-BSP-RLD alliance, BJP's Dr. Satyapal Singh is leading in Baghpat against RLD's Jayant Chaudhary. The seat is crucial for RLD as it is contesting only in three places under the mahagathbandhan. After his loss to Hema Malini in 2014 polls, Jayant Chaudhary is looking for a comeback through Baghpat. The other two seats where the RLD is contesting are Mathura and Muzaffarnagar. While BJP's Hema Malini is ahead in Mathura, in Muzaffarnagar Ajit Singh is in the lead.

BJP's start candidate Hema Malini also has a lead margin of over 95,000 votes. Her win in 2014 polls had surprised many as she had defeated Jat leader Jayant Chaudhary. This election season, she was in news for her colourful campaign after her pictures with sickles and tractors trended on the internet. This time, she is pitted against Narendra Singh of the RLD, which is a part of the alliance with the SP and BSP, and Mahesh Pathak of the Congress.

Rajnath Singh who is on the winning path in Lucknow called BJP's performance in the Lok Sabha polls a "historic victory." "This historic victory in general elections is outcome of Modi's visionary leadership, Amit Shah's dynamism," he said, reported news agency PTI

Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Raj Babbar is trailing in Fatehpur Sikri. BJP's Rajkumar Chahar is leading with a margin of over 72,000 votes. Earlier, Babbar was alloted the Moradabad seat, but was later shifted to Fatehpur Sikri, in an apparent bid to make the Lok Sabha contest easier for the actor-turned-politician

As Narendra Modi races ahead in Varanasi, here is a replug of one of the opinion pieces on nominations in the temple town. "After the TN farmers, turmeric farmers from Telangana decided to fight Narendra Modi. Both sets of farmers knew this was a losing battle. What they hoped to gain from it was the nation’s attention to their demands and to the PM’s failure to fulfill his 2014 promises to farmers. In 2014, the Varanasi fight became historic because of another David: Arvind Kejriwal. This year, the fight is even more unequal, and hence more enthralling." Read here

Amethi is a Congress bastion, but Rahul, a three-time MP from the constituency, has held the seat the longest. Before him, it was represented by his mother and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, his father Rajiv Gandhi and his uncle Sanjay Gandhi. Before she entered active politics, Rahul’s sister Priyanka, now Congress general secretary, often canvassed the constituency as well.

The BSP-SP-RLD alliance, despite fighting the polls in UP without the Congress, did not put up a candidate in Amethi as a show of support to Rahul. Amethi was the only seat apart from Rae Bareli (Sonia Gandhi) that the Congress managed to win in 2014 polls

As the trends became clear in the 543 Lok Sabha constituencies, Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA is headed for a second term with a number of leads indicating a clear edge for the BJP-led ruling coalition. The BJP is doing extremely well in the Hindi heartland, its strong bastions, as well as in the east and in the west. Both in Odisha and West Bengal, the two states where the BJP and its president Amit Shah have focussed to expand the party's base, it is doing well.

The Rahul Gandhi-led Congress' performance appears to be dismal, with the party struggling in both Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, where the party has won assembly elections just four months ago.

The most disappointing for the anti-BJP camp has so far been the performance of the Mahagadbandan in Uttar Pradesh where the SP-BSP-RLD alliance was expected to give a tight fight to the BJP which won 71 of the 80 seats in 2014. Going by the general view that the party that captures Uttar Pradesh would rule India, the BJP may be heading for a landslide victory in the 2019 election. The NDA appears to be sweeping Bihar also.

The margin between Rahul Gandhi and Smriti Irani widens in Amethi. The BJP candidate has a lead of over 3,000 votes. Rahul first won Amethi in 2004 with a margin of 100,000 votes. In 2009, he retained the seat defeating his nearest rival by 370,000 votes. In the last general election in 2014, Rahul defeated BJP’s Smriti Irani by a margin of one lakh votes.

In Azamgarh, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is in the lead. Considered to be the bastion of SP, the former CM this time is pitted against BJP candidate Dinesh Lal Yadav “Nirauha”. n the 2014 polls, the SP founder and Akhilesh’s father Mulayam Singh Yadav had won the seat by defeating BJP’s candidate Ramakant Yadav, who is now with the Congress.

Mulayam Singh Yadav is at a lead in Mainpuri - in what is considered as Samajwadi's safest seat. He represented Mainpuri in the Lok Sabha in 1996, 2004 and 2009. In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Mulayam Yadav contested from Azamgarh and Mainpuri and won both. The election is more special, as Mayawati had sought votes for Yadav in a campaign rally

While Rahul Gandhi is trailing in Amethi, he has a comfortable lead in Wayanad. CPI's P Sunner is second, while NDA's Thushar Vellappally is in third place.

Byoued by the results that are trickling in, celebrations have begun in BJP office in New Delhi

Celebration begins at BJP headquarters @IndianExpress pic.twitter.com/cWElWlwgEr

— Lalmani Verma (@LalmaniVerma838) May 23, 2019

Rahul Gandhi is now trailing from Amethi. BJP's Smriti Irani is leading with a narrow margin of nearly 1500 votes

Bhojpuri actor Ravi Kishan is ahead in Gorakhpur. Considered to be a prestige seat for the BJP, Chief Minister Adityanath had been a five-time MP from here since 1991. The seat was however lost to Pravin Nishad, who had won the seat on an SP ticket in bypolls last year. While Pravin Nishad has now shifted to BJP, the win in Gorakhpur cemented the alliance between SP and BSP. Samajwadi Party candidate Rambhual Nishad is trailing at second place

In Uttar Pradesh's capital city Lucknow, BJP candidate Rajnath Singh has a substantial lead. Rajnath Singh has a lead of 52,349 votes, while Samajwadi Party candidate Poonam Sinha is trailing with 19940 votes. Congress candidate Acharya Pramod Krishnam has a lead with 7650 votes. Held by former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Lucknow remains a crucial seat for BJP as the party has not lost any Lok Sabha election for last 28 years.

Meanwhile, on the national level, early trends indicate the BJP is leading the charge in Karnataka, Gujarat, Haryana, Delhi among others and has made inroads in West Bengal and Odisha. The Congress is putting up a fight in Punjab, Chhattisgarh and Bihar. A clear picture is expected to emerge only late afternoon.