With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) retaining power in Uttar Pradesh in the Assembly elections, party members and supporters celebrated the big win with sweet delicacies, dances, and Holi colours in the air.

Uttar Pradesh has 403 assembly seats, with 202 seats required to form a majority government.

Notable BJP candidates who have secured a lead include Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath from Gorakhpur Urban, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav from Karhal, Shivpal Yadav from Jaswant Nagar and Congress Legislature Party leader Aradhana Shukla from Rampur Khas.

Also read: Uttar Pradesh elections 2022: Full list of voting dates for all constituencies

Yogi Adityanath is heading for a landslide victory in Gorakhpur Urban seat leading over his nearest rival, SP’s Subhawati Shukla, by about 15,000 votes.

On the other hand, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) contested 403 seats, and is leading in 3. The Congress contested 399, and is leading in 1 seat.

Also read: UP polls: SP President Akhilesh Yadav accuses BJP of ‘stealing votes’

In 2017, the BJP got 312 seats and its allies Apna Dal and SBSP nine and four seats, respectively. The SP got 47, BSP 19, Congress 7 and others five seats in the previous assembly elections.

Apart from this victory, the BJP is set to retain Uttarakhand, leading in 44 of the hill state’s 70 seats, surpassing the majority mark of 36.   

Released earlier this week, Opoyi’s poll of polls, based on an average of 11 exit polls, showed the BJP winning between 32 and 38 seats and the Congress between 29 and 34 seats.