New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has won Varanasi constituency for a third consecutive term. However, his victory margin has narrowed to 1,52,513 votes against Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Rai. Contrastingly, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has won the Rae Bareli seat comfortably with a significant margin of 3,90,030 votes.

In Varanasi, Modi has secured 6,12,970 votes and Rai came second with 4,60,457 votes. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the prime minister had won the seat by a victory margin of 4,79,505 votes while in 2014 he had won by a margin of 3,71,784 votes against Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal.

Rai pointed out: "Everyone has been campaigning for him (Modi) and despite that Modiji was trailing for three hours. And he struggled to win by a margin of 1,50,000 votes."

Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi has won both the Wayanad and Rae Bareli seats. In Rae Bareli, he has secured 6,87,649 votes against Bharatiya Janata Party's Dinesh Pratap Singh who has garnered 2,97,619 votes. Sonia Gandhi previously represented this constituency in parliament for three consecutive terms since 2004. In Wayanad, Rahul Gandhi has won by a margin of 3,64,422 votes.

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In another major contest in Amethi, Congress nominee Kishori Lal has managed to win the seat against union minister Smriti Irani by a margin of 1,67,196 votes. Interestingly, Lal has defeated Irani by a bigger margin compared to Modi's victory in Varanasi. This is the first time that Lal — who is considered to be the backroom strategist of the Gandhi family — participated in an electoral contest. In 2014, Rahul Gandhi defeated Irani by a margin of 1 lakh votes while she recorded a win in 2019 by around 55,000 votes in the Amethi seat.

Speaking about Lal's victory, Rahul Gandhi said in a press conference, "BJP doesn't respect people. Kishori Lal Sharmaji is working for the Congress party in Amethi since the last 40 years. And he has a relationship with the people of Amethi, maybe BJP people didn't understand this. Kishori Lala Sharmaji is very closely connected to Amethi so his win was obvious. I congratulate him as he has won well. It's wrong and offensive to call him a PA and steno, such things shouldn't be said."

Out of the 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party has won 24 seats and is ahead in 13 constituencies while the BJP has also won 24, it is ahead in only nine seats, as per the latest Election Commission data. The Congress party has managed to win five seats and is ahead in one in the state.

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