New Delhi, Notwithstanding controversy over her comments on Nathuram Godse, BJP nominee Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur established early leads in Bhopal against Congress stalwart Digvijaya Singh.
In Amethi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi trailed behind Union Minister and BJP leader Smriti Irani after the second round.
In Bhopal, while the BJP candidate Sadhvi had polled over 92,180 votes, former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh was trailing by over 30,000 votes.
Sadhvi’s comment on the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi has landed her into discipline row in the party with Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself expressing his displeasure for her remarks.
The BJP president Amit Shah has served her a showcause notice.
In West Bengal, BJP established early leads in 14 out of 42 seats while Mamata Banerjee was leading in 23 and Congress two.
In Asansol, BJP nominee Babul Surpiyo was leading against Moon Moon Sen by a margin of 33,585 votes.
In Chhattisgarh, which Congress won during December Assembly polls, seemed to have gone in favour of the saffron party again with BJP leading in 9 seats and Congress was leading in 2. The BJP has established early leads in Raipur, Durg and Raigarh among others while Congress nominees seemed to be comfortable in Naxalite-hit Bastar and Bilaspur.
In Rajasthan too, the saffron party seemed to have gained grounds since December polls and the party was leading in as many as 24 seats out of 25 seats. According to early trends in Nagaur, the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party established leads by 33,608.
The BJP was leading in Ajmer, Alwar, Banswara, Barmer and Jaipur among others. In Jodhpur, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s son Vaibhav Gehlot was trailing against BJP candidate and Union Minister Gajendra Singh Sekhawat.
In Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was much ahead of his nearest rival of Samajwadi Party Shalini Yadav by 72,318 votes. Mr Modi, who is seeking re-election from the temple city, has so far polled 1,07,511 votes while Ms Yadav could manage only 35,193 votes. Congress has fielded Ajay Rai from the constituency.
In Mainpuri, Mulayam Singh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party was ahead of his BJP rival Prem Singh Shakya and his son Akhilesh Yadav was ahead in Azamgarh.