In setback, BJP loses 2 seats in Varanasi legislative polls of Prime Minister Modi


File photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

File photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

While BJP candidates Manvendra Pratap Singh ‘Guru Ji’ won the Agra Division Graduate position and Dinesh Goyal won the Meerut Graduate position, Ashutosh Sinha from SP won the Varanasi Division Graduate position .

  • News18.com
  • Last update: December 6, 2020 10:26 AM IST
  • Edited by: Bharvi dasson
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After almost a decade in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s constituency Varanasi, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost two seats in legislative council elections. Both seats, one reserved for teachers and one for graduates, were filled by candidates from the Samajwadi Party (SP).

While the BJP candidates Manvendra Pratap Singh ‘Guru Ji’ won the Agra Division Graduate position and Dinesh Goyal won the Meerut Graduate position, Ashutosh Sinha from SP won the Varanasi Division Graduate position and Maan Singh Yadav won the Allahabad-Jhansi Division Graduate seat, the elections office said.

Voting took place on Tuesday for 11 seats for the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council, the upper house of the state legislature with five reserved for graduates and six for teachers. The members’ term, known as the MLC, expired on May 6. Teachers’ associations linked to parties such as the BJP, the Samajwadi Party and Congress contested the polls with 199 candidates in the contest.

“It is a great victory. I am happy with our result,” said Lal Bihari Yadav, candidate for Samajwadi in the Varanasi Division Masters District.

The results for two seats are still pending. While the BJP had won four of the 11 seats, the SP won three seats and the independent candidates won two. SP’s victory in the polls has surprised many, as the seats have been the stronghold of the BJP for almost 10 years.

Days before the results were announced, SP President Akhilesh Yadav issued a statement alleging that the BJP had attacked the police in Jhansi, fearing defeat, and demanded the immediate arrest of the culprits.

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