UP Lok Sabha Exit Polls: Lotus Set To Bloom Again In This Hindi Heart Land

The BJP is predicted to improve its performance in Uttar Pradesh in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, according to several exit polls released after the final phase of the seven-phase polling concluded on Saturday.

Republic Bharat-Matrize predicts the BJP will win 69-74 out of 80 seats, while the INDIA alliance is expected to secure 6-11 seats.

Republic TV-P MARQ forecasts 69 seats for the BJP and 11 seats for the INDIA alliance.

India News-D-Dynamics exit poll also predicts 69 seats for the NDA and 11 seats for the INDIA alliance.

Overall, most exit poll predictions project 65-70 seats for the BJP-led NDA, marking a gain for the ruling alliance compared to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

In the 2019 elections, the BJP and its ally Apna Dal(S) defied the arithmetic of the SP-BSP 'mahagathbandhan' in Uttar Pradesh, winning 64 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats. The alliance partners, Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), secured only 15 seats between them.

The Congress managed to win just the Raebareli seat, held by Sonia Gandhi. Among the alliance partners, the BSP, led by Mayawati, emerged as the biggest gainer with 10 seats. Akhilesh Yadav's SP won five seats, while the smallest partner, Rashtriya Lok Dal, failed to win any seats. The Congress faced a significant defeat in its stronghold of Amethi, where then-party president Rahul Gandhi lost to Union Minister Smriti Irani, who had been defeated there in 2014.