Lucknow, 4 June (HS): The counting of ballots for the Lok Sabha elections, which will decide whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi makes a return or the resurgent Opposition steals the show, has begun. Seven hours later, the NDA has passed the majority mark, but India is fighting hard. The biggest surprise is Uttar Pradesh, which the BJP won in 2014 and held onto in 2019. This time, the majority of exit polls indicated a party advantage. Around 2 p.m., the INDIA bloc, which includes the Samajwadi Party and the Congress in the state, has a slim lead over the NDA in an epic neck-and-neck battle.

In Rae Bareli, one of Uttar Pradesh's most competitive Lok Sabha constituencies, the Bharatiya Janata Party nominee trails the Congress candidate by a large margin of votes. The Congress party is overjoyed since their candidate has a 1.5 lakh vote advantage. There is disillusionment among BJP members. Rahul Gandhi was fielded by the Congress for the Lok Sabha elections in 2024 from the Rae Bareli constituency. Dinesh Pratap Singh, a minister in the Uttar Pradesh government, was handed a ticket by the Bharatiya Janata Party. The Congress's last-minute choice and tactic of fighting elections on this seat and fielding Rahul Gandhi instead of Amethi appears to be working well in the vote count today.

Since then, Rahul has consistently led in numerous rounds of postal ballot voting. Each round, the margin of victory grows larger. Rahul's team is overjoyed after securing a 1.6 lakh vote lead until approximately 2 p.m. At the same time, Dinesh Pratap Singh of the BJP and his workers are disappointed. Although vote counting is still ongoing, Congressmen are optimistic that Rahul Gandhi would win in Rae Bareli with a lead of more than 1.6 lakh votes. At the same time, BJP supporters are unhappy. It is worth noting that the BJP candidate from Rae Bareli, Dinesh Pratap Singh, declared victory during the election campaign and asked Rahul Gandhi to debate.

His debate was in the news on social media. Sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had campaigned vigorously for Rahul on this seat. At the same time, Congress party along with SP had put its full strength into the election campaign. However, no stone was left unturned to ensure victory for BJP candidate Dinesh Pratap.