Amethi (Uttar Pradesh): Congress candidate Kishori Lal Sharma, who is on the verge of pulling off a major upset by defeating Union Minister Smriti Irani from Amethi, termed this a victory of the 'Gandhi family' and the people of Amethi.
KL Sharma, the long associate of the Gandhi family was given the responsibility of winning back the party's once-held bastion.
"This is the victory of the Gandhi family and the people of Amethi...the counting is still taking place, so I won't call it a victory now," Sharma told ANI.
"I didn't fight this election, the people of Amethi did," the Congress candidate said. "The Gandhi family gave me the ticket and bestowed a responsibility on me, and I think I am fulfilling their expectations."
According to the latest numbers by the Election Commission of India, KL Sharma is leading Irani with 1,18,471 votes.
KL Sharma has got 3,97,538 votes and Smriti Irani has got 2,79,067. In 2019, Smriti Irani won the seat of Amethi by defeating Rahul Gandhi by a margin of over 55,000 votes.
In the state of Uttar Pradesh, BJP is leading on 35 seats, while the INDIA bloc, of Samajwadi Party and Congress, has won 34 and 7 seats respectively.
The Congress is leading on the seats of Amethi, Rae Bareli, Amroha, Saharanpur, Sitapur, Allahabad and Barabanki.
Rahul Gandhi, who is contesting from the other party bastion of Rae Bareli is leading by a huge margin of 3,85,501 votes. He is also contesting from Wayanad in Kerala and leading by a margin of 3,59,170 votes.
Kuwar Danish Aliis leading in Amroha from 12,896 votes. Ujjwal Raman Singh is leading in Allahabad by 42,492 votes and Tauj Punia is leading in Barabanki with 2,04,180.
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA crossed the majority mark in early leads and the INDIA bloc above 200, defying all exit poll predictions. As per the Election Commission data, the NDA alliance is leading on around 300 seats while the INDIA bloc is at 230 seats.
Most exit polls predicted a straight term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with quite a few of them projecting a two-thirds majority for the ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
—ANI