The wait will be over in just a day. After over two months of gruelling campaigning through the state, political parties who are contesting in the seven-phased, three-cornered battle are eagerly waiting for the exit poll predictions which will be announced today at 5.30 pm. The Election Commission (EC) had prohibited exit polls for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections till 5.30 pm on 9 March following the death of the Samajwadi Party candidate for the Alapur seat, in the wake of which polling, originally scheduled for 27 February, has been pushed back to Thursday, an official said. Marked by caustic, high decibel campaigning, which saw the political discourse plumbing to low levels at times, the long-drawn polling process in the most populous and politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh came to an end on Wednesday. With an overall voting percentage of 61 per cent across its seven phases for the 403 assembly seats, slightly higher than the 59.5 per cent registered in the 2012 assembly elections, the last phase saw heavy balloting in all the 40 seats spread across seven districts in the Purvanchal region. The last round brought the curtains down on one of the most closely contested, and staggered poll process in recent times. All parties tried to give their best to win over the electorate. Caught in a bitter family feud and power struggle in the ruling Samajwadi Party, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav took over the party’s reins by knocking out his father Mulayam Singh Yadav and uncle Shivpal Yadav and later aligning with Congress. The party contested on 298 seats. Akhilesh’s wife Dimple, who is a lawmaker from Kannauj, actively campaigned while Mulayam Singh chose to campaign only for friend Parasnath Yadav, brother Shivpal Yadav and daughter-in-law Aparna. [caption id=“attachment_3324670” align=“alignleft” width=“825”] Bengali widows after casting their vote in Mathura. PTI[/caption] Akhilesh Yadav claims that they will form the next government with even a better mandate than last time, when it won 224 seats. The Congress, which took out a long ‘kisan yatra’ from Deoria to Delhi, which became infamous for locals taking away the cots during the ‘khaat sabhaas’, had slammed the SP, BSP and BJP government by saying “27 saal, UP behaal”. The party came down from the high pedestal to enter into an alliance with the SP and they got 105 seats to contest after a hard bargain. Many feel the Congress, with a non-existent organisational structure, got a good deal. Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi addressed many rallies during the polls and even held four roadshows with Akhilesh Yadav. He addressed two pressers with the UP Chief Minister but the last one, two days before the final phase, was called off without any explanation offered. Though Congress put the name of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in its star campaigner list, she campaigned only in Rae Bareli. Congress president Sonia Gandhi, due to ill health, did not campaign and just sent a letter and later a video urging voters in the Gandhi pocketborough of Amethi and Rae Bareli to vote for the party. The BJP put up its might into the elections with Prime Minister Narendra Modi holding two roadshows, taking the rounds of various temples and ashrams and addressing 23 rallies - his highest so far for any state assembly elections. BJP president Amit Shah also addressed 200 big and small rallies with the state functionaries also chipping in with hundreds of rallies, churning the entire state. The Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent of the BJP, was active too and its cadres were pitching in for a BJP victory. In the run up, several thousand km were traversed by state leaders through ‘parivartan yatras’ which covered the entire state and many ‘MBC and OBC conventions’. Handed a duck in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati too fought the assembly elections with elan, addressing more than 50 rallies and appealing to the Dalit voter base to ensure that she romped home to power this time. Aware that the colossal monuments and parks she made in her 2007-2012 regime had cost her a big loss, Mayawati promised not to make these anymore and her campaign revolved around the poor law and order in the state. The Dalit leader promised the return of the rule of law in Uttar Pradesh and also slammed Prime Minister Modi for what she claimed was “fooling people through speeches”. While there is no dearth of issues for a large state like Uttar Pradesh, by the end of the second phase, the polity and the electorate appeared largely split on community lines as polarisation crept in. The statement on ‘shamshaan-kabristaan’ and ‘Holi-Ramzaan’ by Modi added fuel to the fire. Sustained barbs from the likes of senior SP leader and state cabinet minister Azam Khan, Lok Sabha members of the BJP Yogi Adityanath and Sakshi Maharaj vitiated the atmosphere even further. Akhilesh Yadav added to the verbal exchanges with his ‘gadha’ (ass) jibe and RJD chief Lalu Prasad, who campaigned for SP-Congress candidates at some places, called the Prime Minister a ‘hijra’ (eunuch) and Amit Shah a ‘genda’ (rhinoceros). Shah returned the fire by exhorting people to get rid of KaSaB (Congress, SP and BSP). In the last few legs of polling, UP’s powerful and tainted Minister Gayatri Prajapati became the centre point of politics after the Supreme Court ordered the state police to lodge an FIR against him in a gang rape case. The Minister who is contesting from Amethi on a SP ticket was riled by opposition as a “glaring example of kaam bolta hai of the Akhilesh government”. He has yet not been arrested despite a non bailable warrant against him for the last many days. A large section of the 14.05 crore voters in Uttar Pradesh cast their votes during polling on February 11, 15, 19, 23, 27 and March 4 and 8. The results are just two days away now.
Uttar Pradesh Exit Poll Results highlights: Axis-My India, Chanakya predicts landslide win for BJP with over 250 seats
After over two months of gruelling campaigning, parties are eagerly waiting for the exit poll predictions which will be announced today at 5.30 pm.
 "Uttar Pradesh Exit Poll Results highlights: Axis-My India, Chanakya predicts landslide win for BJP with over 250 seats")
Will push myself more, won’t disappoint voters: PM Modi’s message to BJP supporters
In his victory speech, prime minister Narendra Modi said that he will work harder to ensure that the government delivers to the aspirations of the people . He said that the government is for all people, and he would like all the BJP workers and governments to work with this belief in mind.
Poll victories mark golden era for BJP: PM Modi
Addressing party workers, Modi said that the recent election victories mark the golden era for the Bharatiya Janata Party. He, however, added that this golden moment wasn’t handed down to the party by anyone, and he doesn’t regret the fact. He said that the victory was the fruit of party workers hard work.
Middle class bears the most burden, contributes the most for the nation: PM Modi
Tapping the massive support Modi enjoys amid the middle class, the Prime Minister said that the middle class bears the burden of rules and law the most and it contributes for the growth of the nation. He said that he seeks to empower the poor, which will not only strengthen the marginal section of the society but ease the pressure from the middle class.
These elections are an emotional issue for us. They come when we mark the centenary celebrations of Pandit Deen Dayal Ji: PM Modi pic.twitter.com/GWDlVFJNOt
— ANI (@ANI) March 12, 2017
We accept our unprecedented victory with all humbleness: PM Modi
Paralleling the BJP sweep in recent polls with a fruit laden tree, Modi said that now it is the party’s responsibility to accept it with humbleness. He said just like a fruit laden tree remains bowed in humbleness, the party too should work relentlessly for the people who have put their trust in the party.
Elections are a festival of democracy: Narendra Modi
Addressing the party workers for the first time after the massive win in Uttar Pradesh, Modi said that elections are the festival of democracy and the fact that people participated in it wholeheartedly is a good sign for the nation.
BJP will fulfill all the promises it made: Amit Shah
Amit Shah, addressing party workers at the headquarters, said that Narendra Modi was not only a popular leader but he also succeeded in rekindled hope amid the poor that there lives can get better.
He also promised that the party will justify the faith that the people have shown in the BJP, by working for their development.
Spectacle of Modi’s cult in and around BJP HQ
According to CNN-News18 ground reporters, BJP supporters from far and wide places have come to see Modi’s address in the national capital. A BJP supporter, interacting with the News-18 reporter said he carries Modi’s picture everywhere and worships him like a god. Another supporter, decked up in saffron, said he had travelled from Rajasthan to see the Prime Minister.
People had been waiting at the party headquarters for over two hours but the programme has been delayed.
Post a Super Show on Saturday, Modi Out to Take in The Applause
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi, having ended what the BJP often described in its campaign as ‘14 saal ka vanvaas’, will appear in public for the first time since his party’s landslide victory in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
According to some reports, Modi could travel in his convoy till the Le Meridien hotel from where he could take the 100 m walk down to his party headquarters, where party workers, lined up on both sides of the Ashoka Road, are expected to greet him.” – News 18
Read the full article hereAfter SP’s debacle in UP election, Shivpal Yadav vows to fight back in the state
Sidelined SP leader Shivpal Yadav, who won from his seat in Uttar Pradesh where his party suffered a rout, has vowed to fight back in the state. The win was a consolation for Shivpal who was fighting to redeem his lost pride in his native constituency.
In an unprecedented Modi wave, BJP’s vote share increased by 260%
In an outcome unmatched over the last 40 years, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 312 out of 403 (77.4 percent) seats in India’s largest state assembly in its most-populous state, increasing its vote share by 25 percentage points from the 2012 assembly elections to 39.7 percent in 2017.
The BJP almost repeated its performance from the 2014 parliamentary elections, when it won 42.7 percent votes and 73 (more than 90 percent) of 80 Lok Sabha seats.
From #NoteBan to Jan Dhan Yojana, all of PM Modi's initiatives are for the development of poor people: @VijayGoelBJP to @TanushreePande pic.twitter.com/5kFEDvEps6
— News18 (@CNNnews18) March 12, 2017
BJP’s massive win proves Modi magic now transcends Hindutva
The message is loud and clear: The BJP juggernaut has moved into fifth gear. And what’s more, there are no speed-breakers in sight, at least not till 2019, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks a second term.
Another thing that the outcome of the latest round of Assembly elections has established is that a good majority of Indians refuse to see Modi as a mere Hindutva leader who whips up raw communal passions to get votes. Instead, they perceive him as a man they can trust, as a man who can bring about development, as a man who can transform their lives for the better, and as a man who can bring in change.
In short, they see him as a leader who can deliver. As of now, the number of Indians who believe Modi can shape India’s destiny is large enough to ensure him victory after victory in elections. That should explain the party’s good show in four of five states — Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur — that saw polling. Though it lost Punjab, its victory in UP, India’s fourth largest state, was nothing but a historic landslide.
The claims of Modi-baiters, essentially comprising those who suffer from a fossilised Left ideology and those who adore the dynasty that runs the Congress, that the Modi magic has been on the wane and that the 8 November demonetisation would be a first nail in his political coffin have been decisively proved wrong.
Read full article hereMeanwhile Mulayam does a U-turn, changes stand on SP’s electoral defeat
Mulayam Singh Yadav, who earlier grabbed headlines for reportedly accusing the “arrogance of alliance” for SP’s debacle in the just-concluded UP polls, has now said that no one was responsible for the defeat.
“Nobody is responsible for the defeat, there are no reasons behind it; this is the people’s mandate. The BJP has made tall promises let’s see how much of it they fulfil,” Mulayam said.
Haar ka zimedaar koi nahi,koi wajah nahi.Ye janta ka vidhaan hai.BJP ne bahut wade kiye hain, dekho pure karten hain ya nahi: MS Yadav pic.twitter.com/0ztWP4rgUF
— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) March 12, 2017
No matter who BJP picks to head UP, Amit Shah will be the super CM
The Bharatiya Janata Party’s parliamentary board is all set to meet today and probably the party will pick the chief minister to be for the states of UP and Uttarakhand. However, just like the way, the BJP’s election campaign was a one-man show, the chances are really high that the chief ministerial pick is an Amit Shah loyalist.
According to a report in The Times of India, a party source said that Amit Shah wants the new chief minister should be someone “who can hit the ground running.”
Meanwhile, deliberations are on in the media circles and names liek Rajnath Singh, Manoj Sinha, KP Maurya are being talked about. The suspense will end by tonight, probably.
Party ke nirdesh ka paalan karunga, khushi hai ki party mujhe mukhya-dhara mein layi: Dayashankar Singh on withdrawal of expulsion from BJP pic.twitter.com/m9C6Ns0SXt
— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) March 12, 2017
UP’s BJP chief brings back Dayashankar Singh
BJP president of UP Keshav Prasad Maurya revoked expulsion of Dayashankar Singh. In 2016, Singh had compared BSP chief Mayawati to a prostitute. “Ek vaishya se bhi badtar charitra ki aaj Mayawatiji ho gayi hain. Isi liye Kanshi Ram ke banaye karyakarta unka saath chhod kar ja rahe hain aur BSP samapt ho rai hai… Mayawatiji kisi ko 1 crore mein ticket deti hain. Koi 2 crore dene wala milta hai toh usey ticket de deti hain, aur shaam ko koi 3 crore dene ko taiyyar hota hai toh usey de deti hain (Mayawati gives a ticket for 1 crore which she changes if she is offered 2 crore. And she changes even that ticket if she is offered 3 crore by evening),“Singh had said.
BJP had expelled the minister after the controversial remark had stormed Parliament. BJP sources had then said that Singh would likely be expelled from the party for six years.
UP BJP President KP Maurya revokes expulsion of Dayashankar Singh who was expelled after his controversial statement on BSP chief Mayawati pic.twitter.com/XNXFAaFZPa
— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) March 12, 2017
For UP ministers, an overwhelming thumbs down
Power does not necessarily ensure electoral victory – and so it proved for ministers of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s government, with people overwhelmingly rejecting them in the just-concluded assembly elections.
A whopping 31 of the 45 ministers bit the dust at the hustings, and where they did win, the victories were hardly convincing as most made it across the finishing line by slender margins.
Of those who lost,15 were cabinet ministers, a dozen were state ministers with independent-charge, and the remaining ministers of state.
A new India is emerging, which is being powered by the strength & skills of 125 crore Indians. This India stands for development.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 12, 2017
When we mark 75 years of freedom in 2022, we should have made an India that will make Gandhi Ji, Sardar Patel & Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar proud
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 12, 2017
BJP parliamentary board meeting today, party to decide CM pick for UP, Ukhand
The BJP parliamentary board will come in a huddle today evening to decide the strategy for forming a government in Goa and Manipur, while the party’s CM pick for UP and Uttarakhand will also be decided today. The meeting is scheduled to take place after Modi’ s grand welcome at the party headquarters in New Delhi.
Arrogance of allince took down Samajwadi Party: Mulayam Singh Yadav
Apparently UP voters didn’t like Akhilesh and Rahul ka sath and now Mulayam too finds it unsavoury.
The Samajwadi Party’s ousted patriarch has said that the alliance was the sole reason the party performed so poorly in the polls.
“The arrogance of the alliance is responsible for the debacle… I don’t know if you saw a thela-wala’s byte on TV who said I have always voted for SP but not this time as Netaji has been insulted. The message has gone far and wide. What could I have done?,” Mulayam was quoted by The Economic Time as saying.
All exit poll results at a glance
Region-wise vote share shows BJP, SP-Congress neck and neck in Uttar Pradesh
#upelections2017 #ExitPolls #2017VidhanSabha pic.twitter.com/tLFB3xIcsM
— CVoter India (@CvoterIndia) March 9, 2017
Watch News-18 analysis on UP exit poll results
#BREAKING TODAYS CHANAKYA predicts a clear majority for BJP in #UttarPradesh. @SANKETUPA @bhupendrachaube pic.twitter.com/mPiLyVh1W9
— News18 (@CNNnews18) March 9, 2017
Here’s the region-wise division of seast as predicted by C-Voter
#upelections2017 #ExitPolls #2017VidhanSabha pic.twitter.com/VTFHopvXC8
— CVoter India (@CvoterIndia) March 9, 2017
Today’s Chanakya predicts massive win for BJP, writes-off BSP in Uttar Pradesh
Here’s the complete tally
| BJP | 285 ± 18 |
| SP + Congres | 88 ± 15 |
| BSP | 27 ± 12 |
| Others | 3 ± 2 |
Ever wondered how is counting of votes is done, here is an infographic tracking the counting process
Axis-My India predicts sweeping victory for BJP in UP: #Watch News18’s analysis of the exit poll results
#BREAKING Massive surge for BJP in #UttarPradsesh according to AXIS MY INDIA predictions. @SANKETUPA @bhupendrachaube pic.twitter.com/waZgFYq5rL
— News18 (@CNNnews18) March 9, 2017
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