"Would like to thank people of Amethi, Gandhi family...": Congress candidate Kishori Lal Sharma

Amethi (Uttar Pradesh) [India], June 4 (ANI): Following the latest trends which showed Congress candidate Kishori Lal Sharma leading against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s candidate Smriti Irani in Uttar Pradesh's Amethi, the former said that he would like to thank the people of the constituency and the Gandhi family.
Speaking to reporters in Uttar Pradesh's Amethi, Sharma said, "I would like to thank the people of Amethi and the Gandhi family".
"However, let the counting conclude. We will talk after that", he added.
As per the latest trends by the ECI, Sharma is leading with 62,358 votes, while BJP's Irani was trailing behind at the time of writing this report.
Amethi is one of the most-watched seats of all the 543 Lok Sabha constituencies. The exit polls forecasted a tough fight between BJP's Irani and Gandhi family loyalist- KL Sharma
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Irani defeated Congress candidate Rahul Gandhi from Amethi- which had been a Congress bastion for several years. However, in the 2024 LS polls, Gandhi contested from Kerala's Waynad and Uttar Paradesh's Raebareli, which has been being represented by former Congress president Sonia Gandhi since 2004.
In Uttar Pradesh- the state with the highest number of constituencies- the Samajwadi Party (SP) is ahead on 35 seats while the BJP is leading on 34 seats, a significant decline from the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
The grabd old party is currently leading on seven seats, as per the latest trends by the Election Commission.
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA crossed the majority mark in early leads and the INDIA bloc above 200, defying all exit poll predictions.
The Bharatiya Janata Party is eyeing a third straight term in power, while the Opposition under the umbrella of the INDIA bloc is seeking to wrest power from the ruling party.
Most exit polls predicted a straight term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with quite a few of them projecting a two-thirds majority for the ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
The Congress party and its allies dismissed the exit polls as "orchestrated" and a work of "fantasy", asserting that the opposition INDIA bloc will form the next government at the Centre.
Strict security has been put in place for the smooth conduct of counting of votes for over 8,000 candidates in this general election.
Two polls predicted the BJP would also improve its numbers from the 303 seats it won in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. In the 2019 elections, NDA wrested 353 seats, of which the BJP won 303 alone. The Opposition's UPA got only 93 seats of which the Congress got 52.
Even before the counting of the votes, the Bharatiya Janata Party won one seat of Surat Lok Sabha.
The Lok Sabha elections were held across the country in seven phases from April 19 to June 1. (ANI)