LUCKNOW: Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party swept to power jolting Congress party and the BJP in UP assembly polls, the results of which are a setback to Rahul Gandhi, who acknowledged the "defeat".
SP dethroned BSP leader Mayawati by getting an absolute majority by comfortably crossing the required 202-mark in the 403 member House. The SP has won 224 seats. Mayawati was relegated to the second position ending up close to 80 seats. The Congress, which was hoping to do well after Rahul Gandhi’s extensive campaigning in 207 constituencies, improved its previous tally of 22 seats by winning 26 seats and was leading in another two. The BJP, which had 51 seats, has won 47.
The SP has crossed the half-way mark in the 2012 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections and looks all set to form the next government in the state.
Earlier in the day, state unit president Akhilesh Yadav said party chief Mulayam Singh