UP poll results: Akhilesh Yadav pulls down Rahul's flight

In what can be seen as the battle of the Yuvraj's, the

was considered a battle of the scions right from the very start. It was Congress' Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party's (SP) Akhilesh Yadav pitted against each other in the eagerly-anticipated election exercise. But at the end of the day, it was Akhilesh's charm that has propelled SP to become the single largest party in the state.

UP was burdened by Mayawati's mis-governance and the the elephantine corruption charges that it had to face that worked to the advantage of the Samajwadi party. Winning a total of 224 of the total 403 seats, the power of the SP wave grounded Mayawati and her already dwindling popularity to the ground.

The UP elections also saw a huge setback for Rahul Gandhi, for whom a positive verdict was something of a prestige issue. In spite of incessant campaigning and making use of the Gandhi clout, his effort to attract potential voters seem to have fallen apart.

After pushed to the third position in the early trends, the BSP had to eat the humble pie and managed to get only 80 seats largely due to its own doing. Compared to the 2007 results, even the BJP was not able to maintain their 2007 numbers, which is 51 and managed to get only 47 seats at the moment. [Read: SP not to dismantle Maya's statues in UP]

Akhilesh was easily considered the game changer in the UP polls, with party leaders stating that it was his futuristic thinking that went beyond caste mobilisation that went in their favour. His ability to connect with the youth was also a big factor and his promises that was successful in wooing the janta. The fact that UP lags behind in most human development parameters only added more sweetness to Akhilesh's arguments. [Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi trashed in UP]

At his humble best, Akhilesh said the entire SP had won the day together. He thanked the people for "believing in the SP...people across caste and community voted for the SP."

OneIndia News