Led by 'Modi wave', top BJP leaders march ahead in their seats

Led by their Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, top BJP leaders were moving ahead in their respective constituencies while a majority of their Congress counterparts except a few including Sonia and Rahul Gandhi were trailing.

Recording its best ever performance in its 34-year existence, the BJP on its own was leading in 276 seats, three more than the required half-way mark in the 543-member House, while its allies were ahead in 49 seats.

As leads for various constituencies trickled in, all its top leaders were ahead in the race, barring Arun Jaitley, who was trailing in Amritsar by over 57,500 votes.

In Vadodra seat in Gujarat, Modi was cruising ahead of his nearest Congress rival Madhusudan Mistry by a margin of over 5.60 lakh votes, while he was leading in Varanasi by a margin of around 69,000 votes.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi was leading in Rae Bareli by a margin of around 1,39,000 votes from BJP's Ajay Agarwal, while party Vice-President Rahul Gandhi was leading in Amethi by a margin of 9,500 votes against his nearest BJP rival Smriti Irani.

BJP President Rajnath Singh was leading in Lucknow by a margin of 35,000 votes from his nearest Congress rival Rita Bahuguna Joshi.

In Gandhinagar, BJP's L K Advani was leading by a margin of over 88,000 votes from his nearest Congress rival Kiritbhai Patel. Murli Manohar Joshi was leading by a margin of 72,000 votes against his nearest Congress rival Shriprakash Jaiswal in Kanpur.

BJP's Uma Bharti was leading by 40,000 votes against her nearest Samajwadi Party rival Chandrapal Yadav.

Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav was leading in Mainpuri by a margin of 1,37,000 votes against his nearest BJP rival Shatrughan Chauhan. He was also leading by 18,500 votes in Azamgarh from his nearest BJP rival Ramakant Yadav, after initially trailing at third place.

SP's Dimple Yadav, wife of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav was leading by 23,60 votes in Kannauj against her nearest BJP rival Subrat Pathak.

In Mathura, BJP's Hema Malini was leading by 82,600 votes against her nearest RLD rival Jayanat Chaudhary.

In Pilibhit, BJP's Maneka Gandhi was leading by 79,500 votes while her son Varun Gandhi was leading by over 56,500 votes in Sultanpur.