The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance is likely to win as many as 74 seats out of 80 in Uttar Pradesh, the state that contributes the maximum number of seats to the Lok Sabha, as predicted by Matrize-Republic exit poll on Saturday.
As per predictions by the India News- NewsX-D-Dynamics, the BJP is expected to improve its 2019 tally and win 65 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats. Its NDA allies in the state, Apna Dal (Sonelal) and Rashtriya Lok Dal are slated to win 2 seats each which brings the NDA tally to 69 seats.
The India Today’s Axis My India poll predictions point towards a 64-67 seat victory for the BJP in Uttar Pradesh. The INDIA bloc is expected to win nearly 8-12 seats. The Congress and the Samajwadi Party had entered into a seat-sharing agreement in the state, as part of the INDIA bloc. The Bahujan Samaj Party which is fighting solo is slated to win zero to one seat.
As per Jan ki Baat poll predictions, the NDA will win 68-74 seats in Uttar Pradesh while the INDIA bloc is expected to win 12-6 seats.
In Uttar Pradesh, there was a direct contest between the ruling NDA and the opposition INDIA bloc. While the BJP contested 75 out of 80 seats in the state, it left the remaining five to its allies like the Rashtriya Lok Dal and the Apna Dal (Sonelal).
The Samajwadi Party which was in the INDIA bloc contested 62 seats in Uttar Pradesh, leaving 17 seats for the Congress and one for the Trinamool Congress.
Uttar Pradesh which holds significant political clout in national politics is home to some of the most important constituencies. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was contesting from Varanasi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh from Lucknow and Union Minister Smriti Irani who defeated Rahul Gandhi in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Amethi.
From the INDIA bloc, Rahul Gandhi contested from Rae Bareli this year, apart from Wayanad in Kerala and Akhilesh Yadav from Kannauj.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the NDA won 64 seats, 62 bagged by the BJP and two by its ally Apna Dal. In 2014, the NDA won 73 seats, the BJP won 71 and the Apna Dal secured two seats.
Uttar Pradesh voted in all the seven phases of the Lok Sabha polls, starting from April 19 and ending on Saturday. The counting of votes is scheduled on June 4.