Uttar Pradesh Election Results 2017: BJP reruns 2014 show, sweeps state with 312 seats

Need to know...

• The BJP sweeps Uttar Pradesh, winning 312 seats in the election to the 403-member Assembly.
• The Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance was annihilated as they could just cross 50. Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party finished third with just 19 seats.
• The BJP's tally is the highest since the Congress's 1980 tally of 309.
• The elections were held in seven phases between February 11 and March 8.

2012 election results

End of live updates.

5:57 pm IST: Akhilesh Yadav submits his resignation as the chief minister of UP. He handed over his resignation to Governor Ram Naik.

5:22 pm IST: PM Narendra Modi thanks Rahul Gandhi after the latter congratulated him on Twitter over the BJP's win in UP and Uttarakhand.

5:08 pm IST: Outgoing CM Akhilesh Yadav meets the press. He accepts defeat and says he hopes the incoming government will work even better. Speaking on BSP supremo Mayawati's allegations that the elections have been rigged, Akhilesh said the matter needed to be looked into. He also said the SP's alliance with the Congress will continue.

4:33 pm IST: PM Narendra Modi tweets over the election results; says he is overjoyed that the BJP has received unprecedented support from all sections of the society. He also thanked the youths for supporting him.

4:22 pm IST: BJP president Amit Shah said the most capable man in the party will be picked to lead the party in UP.

4:20 pm IST: The BJP has won 314 seats, bettering the Congress's record of 309 which was registered in 1980. The highest-ever, however, remains 388 which was registered by the Congress in 1951-52.

3:50 pm IST: Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan gives the credit for the victory in UP to PM Narendra Modi.

3:42 pm IST: BJP has won 290 seats so far. Party president Amit Shah speaks to the media in Delhi, says: "Narendra Modi is the biggest leader since independence." He also said that the BJP will work on the state's development as the country's growth depends on that.

3:11 pm IST: BJP has won 260 seats, much better than than their previous best tally of 221 seats won in 1991. They are leading in another 59. The SP-Congress alliance has won 49 while the BSP 13.

3:02 pm IST: BJP president Amit Shah reaches party headquarters at 11 Ashoka Road in Delhi, "Modi-Modi" chants everywhere.

2:46 pm IST: Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani speaks to CNN-News 18, says: "Victory of people who were tajken for granted by Congress, SP, BSP. They believed that they could depend on a vote-bank even though they did not fulfill any of the developmental promises. This victory is crucial because it sends the message that in a democracy you cannot win on false promises, janta janardhan will be quick to punish you."

2:45 pm IST: BJP president Amit Shah thanks the people of UP for showing faith in the party and delivering a "historic verdict".

2:34 pm IST: PM Narendra Modi to visit party headquarters in Delhi at 4 pm.

2:27 pm IST: We are in favour of development for all but appeasement of none, BJP MP from Gorakhpur Yogi Adityanath told Times Now. He also added that they will proceed with both agendas of development and temple-building.

1:45 pm IST: Mayawati reacts after loss, says tampering of the electronic voting machines led her party's loss for both the 2014 and 2017 losses.

1:12 pm IST: The BJP has bagged 100 seats out of 130 in western UP. In 2014, the reason for the BJP's good show in the region was attributed to the Muzaffarnagar riots of 2013 and the subsequent polarisation. But it is not the religious polarisation which made it happen this time, say experts.

1:07 pm IST: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee tweets over the Assembly election results. She congratulated the winners and advised the losers not to lose heart.

12:47 pm IST: This is a big victory for BJP in UP and Uttarakhand, says Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

12:42 pm IST: UP CM akhilesh Yadav to address meeting at 5 pm.

11.58 am IST: The Congress is in fourth position in Amethi, the parliamentary constituency of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi. The BJP's Garima Singh is leading.

11:45 am IST: Results start to come out: BJP has won three seats; Congress 2.

11:29 am IST: Lead scenario: BJP+ 304; SP-Congress 70; BSP 21; Others 9

11:24 am IST: Samajwadi Party concedes defeat. Party spokesperson Ghanshyam Tiwari issued a statement saying: "The Samajwadi Party wholeheartedly accepts the verdict of the people of Uttar Pradesh. I congratulate BJP for winning the vote of the people. We are proud of the positive and development based campaign we have run. We stand confidently for the leadership of Shri Akhilesh Yadav ji. The people of Uttar Pradesh hold him in high esteem. Under his leadership, the party will continue to work to make Uttar Pradesh a frontier state in development and harmony. We also thank the Election Commission for holding peaceful elections. We thank the media for playing an active role in the democratic process. Best wishes."

11:07 am IST: TRENDS: BJP+ 302; SP-Congress 73; BSP 17; Others 9

10:57 am IST: Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the people of UP had voted for all yogjanas of the Modi government.

10:35 am IST: The BJP organises a firecracker show to celebrate its early surge in Uttar Pradesh.

10:30 am IST: The Congress is leading in just 11 seats. Here is a tally of the Grand-Old Party in the UP elections since 1977, the first time they had lost power at the Centre:

10:15 am IST: State BJP chief Keshav Prasad Maurya said the party leadership will decide on the CM candidate. He also said the party will produce even a better result in the 2019 Lok Sabha election.

10:11 am IST: People of UP have rejected the politics of appeasement, says UP MP Yogi Adityanath. "Party will decide on the CM face," said Patra.

10:06 am IST: I am happy that Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi did not touch Captain Amarinder Singh in Punjab and he had won there. For BJP's win, the credit goes to PM Narendra Modi, said BJP leader Sambit Patra.

10:04 am IST: BJP's tally in UP elections since 1980:

9: 52 am IST: BJP's controversial MLA Sangeet Som from Sardhana is leading.

9:50 am IST: TRENDS: BJP+ 247 seats; SP-Congress 65; BSP 30; others 15

9:28 am IST: The BJP crosses the magic figure of 202 in terms of lead. Its highest-ever in the state is 221 which it got in 1991.

9:20 am IST: TRENDS: BJP+ 175 seats; SP-Congress 41 seats; BSP 21 seats; others 07

9:12 am IST: Congress leads in just three seats. Is it the end of Rahul Gandhi?

9.09 am IST: Demonetisation had a positive impact in UP, says veteran journalist Ashok Malik.

9:08 am IST: TRENDS: BJP+ 126 seats; SP-Congress 28 seats; BSP 16 seats; others 08

8:51 am IST: BJP is leading in 21 out of 30 seats in western UP. It suggests that demonetisation did not have any adverse effect on the party's prospects in a region which is economically dependent on cash transactions. On the other hand, the RLD of Ajit Singh was leading in just one seat, meaning it could be the end of the road for Jat-backed party.

8:41 am IST: Most heavyweight BJP candidates are leading except Laxmikant Bajpai. SP's rape-accused minister Gayatri Prajapati trails. Mukhtar Ansari is leading in Mau constituency.

8:40 am IST: TRENDS: BJP+ 26 seats; SP-Congress 14 seats; BSP 9 seats; others 3

8.26 am IST: TRENDS: BJP+ 8 seats; SP-Congress 6 seats; BSP 2 seats; others 1

8.24 am IST: BJP takes lead in seven seats in all regions of the state.

8:15 am IST: Counting of postal ballots has started. BSP takes the early lead; BJP leads in 3 seats; BSP in 2.

8:10 am IST: UP election is very important for the BJP for it marks the halfway stage of the Modi regime at the Centre. It will determine how it goes for Modi for the remaining period of his tenure till 2019, says Lokniti's Sandeep Shashtri.

8:03 am IST: COUNTING BEGINS.

7:50 am IST: How many seats will the BSP get? Here is a list of seats mayawati's seat has won since 1989:

7:45 am IST: This time, the poor are on the side of Modi; notebandi will not have much effect, said Dipankar Gupta, renowned sociologist, to India Today.

7.43 am IST: BJP's UP chief Keshav Prasad Maurya said his party will win a two-third majority in the election; SP and BSP will be wiped out.

7.35 am IST: Akhilesh has already accepted defeat, says BJP's Rajya sabha MP Brajesh Pathak. An India Today Flash tweet said.

7: 24 am IST: The last time the BJP had won a majority in UP was in 1991 when it had won 221 seats, thanks to the Ram Janmabhoomi movement.

Read: What March 11 will mean for BJP and Congress?

7.17 am IST: If the BJP wins a majority in UP, can it be said that the days of caste and class-based politics are over in the state?

7.15 am IST: It's drizzling in Lucknow. In which camp will the sun shine today? It's also a cloudy weather in Varanasi, the PM's constituency.

7.02 am IST: Will a national party return to rule the UP this time? The last time the state saw a national party ruling it was in 2002 when the BJP was in power. The last time the Congress had ruled UP was way back in 1989.

6:55 am IST: It is generally believed whoever gets 35 per cent of the seats will have the last laugh in UP. Going by the 2012 results, the SP and the Congress's combined vote-share is 41 per cent. But although the arithmetic was right, did the Akhilesh Yadav-Rahul Gandhi pair have the required chemistry with the voters this time?

6.45 am IST: All exit polls have favoured the BJP to emerge as the single-largest party with a couple of surveys predicting a massive majority for Narendra Modi's party. Read: What exit polls on UP said

6 am IST: The results of UP often have a huge bearing on who wins the Lok Sabha elections. UP also has the distinction of being the state that has sent the most number of prime ministers to power. Even Narendra Modi has been elected to the Lok Sabha from Varanasi.

5 am IST: UP is the most populous state in India, and therefore counting here is expected to continue well into the afternoon, if not even the evening.

4 am IST: The counting will begin at 8 am. Several security personnel have been deployed at the counting centres across the state. A three-tier security arrangement has been made at the counting centres. Only central forces are allowed inside the centre.

The results of the crucial Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh that took place in seven phases between February 11 and March 8 will be declared on Saturday (March 11). The election this year was made more interesting by an alliance made between the ruling Samajwadi Party and Congress. The campaigning for this year's election had often turned caustic with leaders of one party launching scathing attack on the opponents. Now, everything comes down to the wire.

The results in UP will determine the course of the national politics in days to come, especially with regard to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's journey for the remaining part of his term till the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. It will also decide whether Rahul Gandhi could settle the Congress' question of succession. For the SP, the result will decide whether Akhilesh Yadav is there face of the future while for Dalit messiah Mayawati, it will be the much-awaited moment to make a return to prominence.

Here is a brief look at the results of the elections that were held in the state in 2012 and 2007. On both occasions, the single-largest party grabbed the majority to form the government. Will it be different this time?