In a Setback, BJP Loses 2 Seats in Legislative Polls in PM Modi’s Varanasi
File photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
While BJP candidates Manvendra Pratap Singh ‘Guru Ji’ won the Agra Division Graduates’ seat and Dinesh Goyal won the Meerut Graduates’ seat, SP’s Ashutosh Sinha won Varanasi Division Graduates’ seat.
Nearly after a decade in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s constituency- Varanasi, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost two seats in legislative council polls. Both the seats – one reserved for teachers and the other for graduates – were bagged by Samajwadi Party (SP) candidates.
While BJP candidates Manvendra Pratap Singh ‘Guru Ji’ won the Agra Division Graduates’ seat and Dinesh Goyal won the Meerut Graduates’ seat, SP’s Ashutosh Sinha won Varanasi Division Graduates’ seat and Maan Singh Yadav won from the Allahabad-Jhansi Division Graduates’ seat, the election office said.
The polling was held on Tuesday for 11 seats to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council – the upper house of the state legislature with five reserved for graduates and six for teachers. The term of the members, known as MLCs, had expired on May 6. The Teachers’ associations linked to the parties like BJP, Samajwadi Party and the Congress fought the polls with 199 candidates in the contest.
“It’s a big victory. I am happy with our result,” Lal Bihari Yadav, the Samajwadi candidate in the Varanasi Division Teachers’ Constituency said.
The results for two seats are still pending. While the BJP had won four of the 11 seats, the SP won three seats and independent candidates won two. SP’s victory in the polls have surprised many as the seats have been BJP’s stronghold for nearly 10 years.
Days before the results were announced, SP president Akhilesh Yadav issued a statement alleging that the BJP had attacked police in Jhansi, fearing defeat, and demanded immediate arrest of the culprits.
