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India elections: Samajwadi Party leads in Uttar Pradesh | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
The regional Samajwadi Party has inched ahead in India's politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh as votes are being counted in five states where assembly elections have been held. | |
The state polls are seen as a litmus test ahead of national elections, due in 2014. | |
They are also seen as a test for the Congress party-led central government. | |
The government's credibility has been eroded in the past few months due to a series of corruption allegations. | |
If the party does well in elections, correspondents say its leadership will be boosted. | |
Next PM? | Next PM? |
The most crucial of the state elections has been in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. | The most crucial of the state elections has been in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. |
The state, with more than 200 million people, is governed by href="/news/world-asia-india-16924299" title="Will 'Dalit queen' Mayawati win again in Uttar Pradesh?" >Chief Minister Mayawati, a low-caste Dalit from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). | |
The main opposition Samajwadi Party was leading in 13 of 21 seats for which leads are available, while the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress party were leading in six and two seats respectively. The state has 403 seats. | |
Exit polls over the weekend suggested that the regional Samajwadi Party led by Akhilesh Yadav will win the largest number of seats in the state, but perhaps not enough to secure a majority. | Exit polls over the weekend suggested that the regional Samajwadi Party led by Akhilesh Yadav will win the largest number of seats in the state, but perhaps not enough to secure a majority. |
In Punjab, the incumbent regional Shrimoni Akali Dal-BJP alliance is leading in 21 of the 31 seats for which the leads are available. Punjab has 117 seats. | |
The Congress party is leading in nine seats, while an independent candidate is leading in another. | |
The month-long elections were held in a total of 690 assembly seats. | |
The exit polls indicated Congress will have a clear edge in Punjab, Uttarakhand and Manipur. |