UP election results: BJP wipes Akhilesh Yadav’s hopes, well above 250

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 fourth hour on Thursday, reports NDTV.

Shortly before 9:30 am, NDTV called the election for the BJP, projecting more than 250 seats for the party out of the state's 403. By 10 am, the BJP, it seemed, could cross 300 - the ambitious target set by the party for itself.

Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party, trailing with roughly half the seats, gained over the last election but fell far short of the party's expectations.

Among those leading were Yogi Adityanath from Gorakhpur, Akhilesh Yadav from Karhal, his party's Shivpal Yadav from Jaswant Nagar, and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya from Sirathu.

With 80 parliamentary seats, Uttar Pradesh holds the key to power at the centre and could offer clues to the national mood before the 2024 general election.

Home to about a fifth of India's 135 crore people, UP sends the most legislators to parliament of any state.

A majority for the BJP would make it the first party to get a consecutive second term in more than three decades.

The Samajwadi Party, considered the biggest challenger of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, had stitched up a diverse coalition with smaller parties which it had hoped would supplement its Muslim-Yadav support base with voters from the Other Backward Classes.

Exit polls had predicted a comfortable majority for the BJP, despite the government's much-criticised handling of COVID-19, high unemployment, and anger over farm reforms that were cancelled last year after protests.

The BJP has long predicted it would retain the state because of policies such as free staples for the poor during the pandemic, a crackdown on crime, and its appeal to Hindu voters.