Lucknow, May 23 (IANS): BJP UP chief and sitting MP Mahendra Nath Pandey is leading from Chandauli in eastern UP even as the combined vote share of SP and BSP was more than the vote share he got in 2014.

Pandey was leading by over 37,000 votes over his nearest rival Sanjay Singh Chauhan of Samajwadi Party.

Pandey had polled about 42 per cent vote in 2014 while the BSP had got about 26 per cent vote and Samajwadi Party got around 21 per cent.

The combined percentage of SP and BSP, who fought the polls together, is larger than the votes polled by Pandey.

The seat has a dominant Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe population that is second to the OBC population, mainly Yadavs. Muslims also constitute a sizeable population while Brahmins and Thakurs are not in a position to play a decisive role.

Pandey had won the seat in 2014, riding high on the Modi wave.

He banked on appeal of government schemes such as Ujjawla, Saubhagya, Swachh Bharat programme, Pradhan Mantri housing schemes and Kisan income support scheme.

Chandauli also has a high number of Kurmi voters.