As the voting percentage in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar saw an increase in the penultimate round of polling, all the camps claimed it will improve their respective positions.

The results in both the States, which saw an intense fight between the BJP and its opponents, will be decisive in deciding the next Government at the Centre.

Among those whose fate will be decided today are Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, his cousin and BJP leader Varun Gandhi, LJP supremo Ramvilas Paswan and former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi.

BJP move In eastern Uttar Pradesh, the BJP has been trying to revive its presence by entering into alliances with smaller parties and caste groups. In the 33 seats in the region, the party had won four in 2009. In this election, the BJP could position it self as one of the three big forces, other than the SP and BSP.

But, in these areas, it was the BSP that was giving a straight fight to BJP. The BSP has a base in eastern UP and had won 11 seats from the region, and had come second in about 15 seats in the last elections. The SP is trying to increase its influence by fielding its supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav from Azamgarh.

For the Congress, the UP results are likely to be embarrassing. The reading within party circles is that Rahul’s victory margin may decrease to two lakh votes. In Bihar, sources indicated that Paswan would bag his seat after a gap of five years. A source in Lalu Prasad-led Rashtriya Janata Dal said the Congress candidate in Hajipur could not attract voters.

Record margin “The fight was between the LJP and Congress and Paswan has an edge,” the leader said. He said in Saran, Rabri Devi would win with a record margin.

In the seven Lok Sabha seats of Bihar that went to the polls today, the RJD-Congress alliance is confident of winning at least four.

The BJP also feels that the results in Bihar will be a major boost for it. “In all the 40 seats, there is a Modi wave. People are voting for Modi in Bihar,” said BJP general secretary Shahnawaz Hussain.

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