UPA on way to emerge as largest coalition

NI Wire

New Delhi

Sat, 16 May 2009: 

The picture will be clearer with each second passing today when the counting of votes of the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections is taking place but so far the trends are coming the Congress-led UPA was leading in 241 constituencies much ahead of the BJP-led NDA which was way ahead in 159 seats.

Of th541 trends in the 543 Lok Sabha seats available so far, Congress alone was ahead in 155 constituencies far from the BJP leading in 100.

Third Front including the Left parties is leading in 93 while the Fourth Front consisting of SP, RJD and LJP was going forward in 32 constituencies.

The trends shows that the UPA partners were doing well in Andhran Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and the CPM stronghold West Bengal.

The BJP led NDA was equally good in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka where NDA was leading in 16 and 18 seats respectively.

In Bihar, JD-U, which is an ally of NDA, was heading ahead for sweep as it was ahead in 32 seats, which means an up of 21 percent than the previous 2004 Lok Sabha result.The trends also show that Congress was probably going to emerge as the single largest party and Congress-led UPA, including Fourth Front, as the largest coalition.

An upward change from the previous election is looking to come in the kitty of UPA so far (+60); while other parties showing a downward change, NDA (-23), Third Front (-17) and Fourth Front (-31).

Among the political heavyweight leaders trailing is Renuka Chowdhury (Congress), Prakash Jha (LJP), George Fernandes (Independent), Yashodhara Raje Scindia (BJP), Ram Naik (BJP), Navjot Singh Sidhu (BJP), Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi (BJP), Menka Gandhi (BJP), Shibu Soren (JMM), Jaspal Rana (BJP) [time 12:08].