Lucknow, May 23: The results of Lok Sabha elections 2019 in Uttar Pradesh, along with the parliamentary seats in other states of India, will be declared today by the Election Commission. The counting of votes across the 80 Lok Sabha constituencies of UP begun at 8:00am and is currently underway. Stay tuned here for the live news and updates on Uttar Pradesh general election results and names of leading and winning candidates. Lok Sabha Elections 2019 Results LIVE News Updates: Will it be NDA, UPA or Third Front?
The electoral battle in UP, as per pollsters, was largely centred between the Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party-Rashtriya Lok Dal (SP-BSP-RLD) alliance and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The contest turned three cornered in some constituencies due to a rejuvenated Congress being led by party's newly appointed eastern UP general secretary in-charge, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
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Exit polls have given BJP the edge in UP, predicting the saffron party and its ally Apna Dal to win nearly two-third of the seats in the state. An aggregate of seven major post-poll surveys claimed that the BJP would win 51-52 constituencies, whereas, the Mahagathbandhan would be restricted to 26-27. Congress, the polls said, will manage to retain only Amethi and Rae Bareli.
The seven-round electoral battle began in Uttar Pradesh on April 11, with the Jat-dominated seats in western UP - Saharanpur, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddha Nagar going to polls in phase 1.
The key candidates in the above round were Union Minister Sanjeev Balyan, RLD chief Ajit Singh and former Mumbai police commissioner Satyapal Singh.
In phase 2, on April 18, the constituencies of Nagina, Amroha, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Hathras, Mathura, Agra and Fatehpur Sikri were contested. This round featured the candidature of actor-politician Hema Malini.
On April 29, in the third round, the seats of Moradabad, Rampur, Sambhal, Firozabad, Mainpuri, Etah, Badaun, Aonla, Bareilly, Pilibhit went into the polling fray.
Samajwadi Party rebel Shivpal Yadav was locked up against his nephew and SP MP Akshay Yadav from Firozpur in this phase. From Pilibhit, BJP's Varun Gandhi was in fray.
In phase 4, the following constituencies were contested: Shahjahanpur, Kheri, Hardoi, Misrikh, Unnao, Farrukhabad, Etawah, Kannauj, Kanpur, Akbarpur, Jalaun, Jhansi, Hamirpur.
All eyes were set on the poll battle in Unnao, where BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj is in fray, along with Kannauj, where the SP-BSP combine had fielded Dimple Yadav, wife of former CM Akhilesh Yadav.
In phase 5, battle entered into the eastern sphere of UP, with the following seats being contested on May 6: Dhaurahra, Sitapur, Mohanlalganj, Lucknow, Rae Bareli, Amethi, Banda, Fatehpur, Kaushambi, Barabanki, Faizabad, Bahraich, Kaiserganj and Gonda.
The crux of the elections in this round was centred in Amethi, where Congress president Rahul Gandhi was challenged by senior BJP leader Smriti Irani -- who has been campaigning in the constituency on regular intervals over the last 5 years.
In phase 6, the contest entered further into east UP, with the seats of Sultanpur, Pratapgarh, Phulpur, Allahabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Shrawasti, Domariyaganj, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Lalganj, Azamgarh, Jaunpur, Machhlishahr, Bhadohi.
Union Minister Maneka Gandhi, from Pilibhit, and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, were two candidates to watch out in this round of the polls on May 12.
In the last phase held on Sunday, Maharajganj, Gorakhpur, Kushi Nagar, Deoria, Bansgaon, Ghosi, Salempur, Ballia, Ghazipur, Chandauli, Varanasi, Mirzapur and Robertsganj.
Among those candidates whose fate were decided in round 7, include actor-politician Ravi Kishan from Gorakhpur, Union Minister Manoj Sinha from Ghazipur and Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi.
In 2014, the BJP swept Uttar Pradesh, winning 71 of the 80 parliamentary constituencies. NDA ally Apna Dal bagged two seats, whereas, five and two Lok Sabha segments were retained by SP and Congress, respectively.