With two phases of voting left for the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, NDTV's Prannoy Roy and his team on The Countdown get you special insights from the state's electorate, along with exclusive interviews with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and wife Dimple Yadav, and Congress candidate Yogesh Shukla. Another important factor that The Countdown analyses is the Priyanka Gandhi Vadra impact in the state after she was appointed the Congress's general secretary in charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh earlier this year.
In the 2014 general elections, the BJP and its allies won 72 seats in Uttar Pradesh, which sends 80 lawmakers - the highest among states - to the Lok Sabha.
Here are the highlights of today's episode of "The Countdown":
9 seats in UP that have mostly voted the winner and the 3 seats that haven't#TheCountdown pic.twitter.com/Y612MdFYLH
- NDTV (@ndtv) May 9, 2019
"Caste always plays a major factor in UP but we try to not let it affect adversely": BJP's Rita Bahuguna on what her party would do for Muslims in Uttar Pradesh#TheCountdown pic.twitter.com/PmFpXdbn8Y
- NDTV (@ndtv) May 9, 2019
- NDTV (@ndtv) May 9, 2019
"Felt no leader in the country could match Modiji," says senior BJP leader Rita Bahuguna Joshi on why she switched from the Congress#TheCountdown pic.twitter.com/ToRMv8CWte
Other Backward Classes: BJP's highest support base in UP#TheCountdown pic.twitter.com/l6cE3fWWCI
- NDTV (@ndtv) May 9, 2019
Congress or 'gathbandhan' - who will Muslims in UP vote for? #TheCountdown #LokSabhaElections2019 pic.twitter.com/g0eVSNoj6P
- NDTV (@ndtv) May 9, 2019
"If we don't have enough to eat, what will we sell?" says Sunaina Rawat, a 14-year-old UP girl who is living every single election issue
- NDTV (@ndtv) May 9, 2019
Watch her story here: https://t.co/ps8hugw5Bz#TheCountdown pic.twitter.com/q3vF0l9Dfb
Urban vs rural divide: Uttar Pradesh has more rural, less urban voters than the rest of India#TheCountdown pic.twitter.com/yQ6ndzxtj8
- NDTV (@ndtv) May 9, 2019
Brahmin backlash against SP-BSP alliance means advantage BJP in UP pic.twitter.com/hh31RDeBZM
- NDTV (@ndtv) May 9, 2019
Decoding the caste factor in Uttar Pradesh #TheCountdown #LokSabhaElections2019 pic.twitter.com/KiZmDjeCDB
- NDTV (@ndtv) May 9, 2019
BJP in Uttar Pradesh makes gains among women voters #TheCountdown #ElectionsWithNDTV pic.twitter.com/VrziYFlzt4
- NDTV (@ndtv) May 9, 2019
- Highest support for BJP among young voters
- PM Modi supporters are very vocal about their support
- Though several candidates in BJP are good or bad, people vote for PM Modi
"Wish the PM to be from Uttar Pradesh, but not from Varanasi": @yadavakhilesh to NDTV #TheCountdown pic.twitter.com/cTqNAlIkE3
- NDTV (@ndtv) May 9, 2019
"Congress didn't talk to us": Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on alliance in Uttar Pradesh
- NDTV (@ndtv) May 9, 2019
Watch on https://t.co/Fbzw6mR9Q5 and NDTV 23x7 pic.twitter.com/q3EJ1EOtnW
- I was forced to announce seats because Congress did not approach us for alliance talks.
- People should not have to deal with any kind of confusion.
- People want the alliance to come to power
- The SP and the BSP will make post-poll decisions together. We don't know how many seats we will win, but we will decide those things later on.
- On Mamta for PM: I hope the Prime Minister is from Uttar Pradesh. The alliance will stand together and the decision to support Mayawati for PM or not will be taken on May 23
- The support for Congress in the state up by 10 Per Cent
- Most people we spoke to said Priyanka Gandhi's role in Uttar Pradesh makes a lot of difference, but people won't remember the votes she got but the seats that she wins
"Wave" versus "landslide": An explainer pic.twitter.com/ho5XgZqCXH
- NDTV (@ndtv) May 9, 2019
