BJP set to sweep UP civic polls with lead in Ayodhya and Varanasi; Congress fares poorly in its bastion Amethi

Lucknow: The BJP appeared set for a massive victory in the Uttar Pradesh civic polls with the saffron party candidates winning or leading in 14 out of the 16 mayoral seats, including the prestigious Ayodhya and Varanasi. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who led the party’s campaign, said that rival Congress was humbled even in the Gandhi family bastion of Amethi and the BJP will now aim for hundred percent success in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. In Ayodhya, BJP’s Rishikesh Upadhyay secured 44,642 votes and defeated nearest rival SP candidate Gulshan Bindu, a transgender, by 3,601 votes. Bindu polled 41,041 votes. In prime minister, Narendra Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi, BJP candidate Mridula Jaiswal defeated her Congress rival Shalini by a comfortable margin of 78,843 votes. [caption id=“attachment_4223279” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] While Jaiswal secured 1,92,188 votes, Shalini got 1,13,345 votes. In Moradabad, BJP candidate Vinod Agarwal defeated Congress candidate Rizvan Qureishi by a margin of 22,635 votes. Agarwal got 95,677 votes while Qureishi polled 73,042. In Saharanpur too the BJP candidate Madan Walia edged past his BSP rival Fazlurehman by a margin of 2,000 votes. Walia got 1,21,201 votes while Fazlurehman secured 1,19,201. Chief Minister Adityanath who undertook a whirlwind tour of the state to ensure the victory of his party’s candidates, described the outcome as a “historic win”. He attributed the victory to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision and BJP chief Amit Shah’s able guidance. Adityanath said the BJP will now look forward to achieving the goal of one hundred percent success in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. He also pointed out that the Congress had been wiped out even in its Amethi stronghold. A major blow was dealt with the Congress, particularly Rahul Gandhi, as reports from the Uttar Pradesh civic polls confirmed a massive win for the BJP in Amethi, a traditional Congress bastion. The Congress lost in Jais and Gauriganj where Nagar Palika polls were held. In Amethi and Musafirkhana, where Nagar Panchayat polls were held, the party had not fielded candidates. From Gauriganj, SP’s Rajpati Devi won by defeating her nearest rival BSP nominee Tara Devi by a margin of 1,395 votes, while in Jais BJP’s Mahesh Sonkar was leading. The Musafirkhana seat was won by independent Brijesh Agrihari while the Amethi seat was won by BJP candidate Chandra Devi. Union Information and Broadcasting minister Smriti Irani has also made several visits to the Amethi constituency. Read: Uttar Pradesh Civic Polls Result 2017 LIVE updates here