With the BJP leaving its rivals comfortably behind in states like Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand in the initial rounds of vote counting, its leaders credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi's governance model for the expected win and said "new history" is being created in UP.
It has never happened in India's largest and politically most important state that a chief minister is set to come back to power with a majority after serving a full term as the head of a government with full majority.
Let's take a look at all important tickets in the politically important state to to look out for:
1. Yogi Adityanath
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is leading from Gorakhpur. Yogi Adityanath is all set to return as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh with the BJP taking an unassailable lead over rivals in India's politically most vital state, as counting of votes entered its fifth hour on Thursday.
2. Keshav Dev Maurya
Dy CM in UP government Keshav Prasad Maurya is leading from Sirathu as shown by trends. The deputy CM is locked in a tough battle. He had won from this assembly seat in 2012 but vacated it after becoming MP in 2014. Apna Dal candidate Pallavi Patel has given him sleepless nights with support of majority Kurmi, Muslim and Yadav votes.
3. Swami Prasad Maurya
Once a top leader in state Bahujan Samaj Party, Swami Prasad Maurya had left it to join BJP in 2016. He was made cabinet minister in Yogi government after wining from the Padrauna assembly seat. However, soon after the announcement of 2022 assembly polls, Maurya switched loyalties to SP. Sensing trouble, Maurya even changed his constituency from Padrauna to Fazilnagar. As trends show, Swami is currently trailing as early trends show.
4. Aditi Singh
Aditi Singh, a close aide of Rahul Gandhi, is currently leading in Raibareili. Once close to Gandhi family, Aditi Singh had won 2017 assembly election on Congress ticket. However, her relations with Congress turned soar over organizational matters in Raibareli district. Congress president Sonia Gandhi is MP from Raibareili. Later on Aditi Singh joined BJP just before this election and became its candidate. She is being challenged by SP’s RP Yadav.
5. Akhilesh Yadav
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav maintained a comfortable lead from Karhal constituency of Uttar Pradesh on Thursday, according to latest poll trends.
Yadav had secured 48,379 votes so far while his nearest rival Union Minister SP Singh Baghel got 19,243 votes, according to the Election Commission. Karhal seat is considered as a stronghold of the SP. nYadav has so far got 67.15 per cent votes while Baghel got 26.71 per cent votes. Akhilesh, who is MP from Azamgarh, is contesting the assembly election for the first time
