Union Minister Smriti Irani Trails In Amethi, Congress Candidate Leads

Union minister Smriti Irani, who unseated Congress's Rahul Gandhi from his family bastion Amethi, is trailing in the constituency.  The Congress candidate, Gandhi family loyalist KL Sharma, is leading by over 28,000 votes.

While the lead is slender, it could be part of the big surprice Uttar Pradesh has packed in this election. Around 11 am, the INDIA bloc -- comprising Samajwadi Party and the Congress in the state -- held a slender lead over the NDA in an epic neck and neck fight.

This time, Rahul Gandhi had left Amethi to Mr Sharma, and chose to take up his mother Sonia Gandhi's mantle in Raebareli.