The Muslim community voted overwhelmingly for the SP. There could have been a sub-surface polarisation.
All options look closed now. The party could begin with a political prime minister.
Singh's year-old Rashtriya Lok Manch, which had fielded 360 candidates in UP, failed to open its account in the assembly polls.
The Samajwadi Party, which got an absolute majority in Uttar Pradesh, would choose its next chief minister after Holi, amid demands from the party's parliamentary party members that Akhilesh Yadav be handed over the reins of the state.
The party’s vote share has dipped three percent in UP; in Punjab it has lost five seats.
The party's move came after Congress, too, began efforts to form a new government in Uttarakhand following its wafer-thin one seat lead against the ruling BJP.
The BSP leader said the Dalit vote had not shifted to any other party and she believed the people would vote the party back to power in the next elections.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi today held a meeting of party general secretaries and office bearers to discuss the outcome of the Assembly elections in five states, including Uttar Pradesh, and the reasons behind it.
The celebration of SP's victory by firing guns has already claimed the life of one seven-year-old. Akhilesh has his work cut out for him in reining in his gun-toting supporters.
Outgoing Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat said the ruling Congress would have done better in the Assembly polls if he had been projected as the party's face for the top post.
A look at the detailed results tells a story: so easily could the BJP have been in a comfortable majority in the state – as could the Congress.
The BJP also centered its election campaign in Uttarakhand around the personality of Khanduri, known as 'Mr Clean'.
The UP elections may be viewed upon as the fall of Rahul Gandhi. But what is also worrying is the inactivity of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The party opened its account in the state in February last year when its candidate K Sarat won the by-election to Konthoujam Assembly constituency.
Ramdev said the verdict of the people is against corruption and Congress' reluctance to act on the demand of bringing back the black money.
While Mulayam Singh will be CM, the speculation is that Akhilesh - the architech of the win - will be the power behind the throne as Deputy CM
The vote percentage of SAD fell by 2.34 percent whereas its ally BJP's vote percentage dropped by 1.15 percent.
It is more a vote against Mayawati than for Mulayam. But the landslide victory is puzzling.
The BJP seems set to retain the Ayodhya seat a record fifth time. BJP candidate Lallu Singh is leading, dispelling speculation that his poor record on the development front could cost him his seat.
The BJP is doing extraordinarily well in Uttar Pradesh, while the BSP looks as though it is getting routed.
A chief minister who has survived two full terms in a state known for abridged tenures, Ibobi Singh has managed to hold on to the coveted chair again.
What lies behind the Samajwadi party's victory? How did the Congress goof up in Punjab and Goa? How did BJP slip by a bit in Uttarakhand?
He is fait accompli for the Congress. It is too timid to promote any other leader.
The BJP chief said the results have given a "big shock" to the Congress.
Lallu Singh of BJP who was leading in Ayodhya has lost to SP's Pawan Pandey by 2500 votes.
After numbers indicated there was no impact from his campaigning, Gandhi said he would take the loss in his stride and continue his work.
From Rahul's long trail to defeat to Robert Vadra's political wish to Maya's vanishing elephants, UP2012 was one big media obsession.
The new face of Samajwadi Party also assured that the party will implement the election manifesto in totality in the state.
It's too early to say what went wrong for the Congress party in UP, but one thing certainly did — the ‘caste arithmetic’.
Mayawati, whose social engineering catapaulted her to simple majority of 206 in the 403-member state assembly in the 2007 elections, became the first CM of the state to complete her term since independence.