The way is clear for Yogi Adityanath’s second term as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh with the BJP candidates forging ahead in as many as 250 of the 403 seats as trends from counting of votes became clear at 11.30 am today. 

A majority for the BJP would make it the first party to get a consecutive second term in more than three decades. The BJP could even cross 300 – the ambitious target set by the party for itself.

Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party was in the second spot and although it appears to be doubling its tally over the previous assembly election, it is  lagging behind the BJP with victory expected in 124 seats.

The Congress and BSP have both flopped in the election with their candidates securing leads in a mere 4 and 6 seats respectively.

The big names leading in the vote count are  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.

According to political analysts, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had himself led the charge in the UP poll campaign addressing several rallies across the state and driving home the benefits of the big push to economic development by the “double-engine” BJP government. The move has paid rich dividends for the party, they add.

With 80 parliamentary seats, Uttar Pradesh holds the key to power at the centre and is seen as a good indicator of the voters’ mind ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

Home to about a fifth of India's 135 crore people, UP sends the highest number of MPs to the Lok Sabha.

The Samajwadi Party, considered the biggest challenger of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh was banking on a rainbow coalition of smaller parties to back its Muslim-Yadav support base.

Also read: Yogi’s 360-degree leadership lays groundwork for Uttar Pradesh’s renaissance