The BJP and its allies marched ahead in 305 Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh as per trends from all the 403 seats, which showed the SP-Congress coalition leading in 68 places and BSP in only 20.

Trends available till midday showed that the saffron party and its allies Apna Dal (Soneylal Patel) and Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) were way ahead, relegating rivals SP-Congress combine and the BSP to the second and third slots.

The fledgling SP-Congress coalition was ahead in 70 seats (SP in 59 and Congress in 11), while BSP trailed far behind with leads in only 18 places.

Gayatri Prajapati, who is absconding after the UP Police booked him in an alleged gangrape case and attempt to rape a minor, was trailing in Amethi, where Garima Singh (BJP), the first wife of Congress leader Sanjay Sinh, was leading.

Ameeta Singh (Cong), the present wife of Sanjay Sinh was also trailing.

In Noida, Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s son Pankaj Singh was leading by an impressive margin.

Minister Yasir Shah was leading in Matera (Bahraich), while minister Rahguraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya was ahead in Kunda.

Jitin Prasada (Congress) was leading in Tilhar (Shahjahanpur).

SP leader Shivpal Yadav was leading by over 11,000 votes in Jaswant Nagar (Etawah) over his nearest rival Manish Yadav Batre of BJP.

Minister Azam Khan was leading in Rampur.

Trends show BJP’s Suresh Rana was trailing in Thana Bhawan seat in Shamli. Sangeet Som (BJP) was leading in Sardhana in Meerut.

Gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari (BSP) was leading by a narrow margin in Mau, while his son Abbas and brother Sigbatullah were trailing in Ghosi and Mohammadabad seats, respectively.

BJP was leading in Ramnagar (Barabanki) and Ayodhya seats. Ministers Arvind Singh Gope and Tej Narain alias Pawan Pandey were trailing.