Election results: Maneka Gandhi trailing in UP's Sultanpur
What's the story
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s incumbent MP from the Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, Maneka Gandhi, is trailing as per the latest trends. Early trends by the election commission show Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate Rambhual Nishad leading, followed by Gandhi and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate Uday Raj Verma. Sultanpur is one of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, which is considered a BJP stronghold.
Election figures
INDIA leading in UP
The latest figures show the NDA leading in 34 seats, with the BJP ahead in 32 and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) in two. On the other hand, the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc was leading in 45 seats, with the SP securing 36 and Congress nine. In past elections, the BJP had secured a significant number of seats in Uttar Pradesh, winning 71 seats in 2014 and 62 in 2019.
Historical context
BJP's past performance in Uttar Pradesh
The Sultanpur seat is composed of five assembly segments: Isauli, Sultanpur Sadar, Lambhua, and Kadipur. Gandhi won this seat in the 2019 elections by a slim margin of less than 15,000 votes. Chandra Bhadra Singh, the BSP's closest challenger, received 4.44 lakh votes, compared to the Congress's meager 41,681 votes. In 2014, the BJP fielded Gandhi's son Varun Gandhi, who defeated BSP candidate Pawan Pandey.