Saffron fades: BJP-backed candidates win only 8 of 48 seats in Varanasi

Varanasi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi today saw BJP supporters winning in only eight of the total 48 seats in the Zilla Parishad elections while those supported by SP got 25 seats. Coming at a time when just one phase of elections remains in Bihar’s Assembly polls and BJP is not exactly comfortable with its poll prospects, these dots from elsewhere do connect in context. In Jayapur, the adopted village of Modi, BJP-supported Arun Singh suffered defeat at the hands of BSP’s Ramesh Tiwari alias Guddu Tiwari while BJP’s Parvati Devi and Amit Sonkar won from Sector 7 and Sector 1, respectively. Zilla Panchayat president Sujit Singh, who was being backed by the BJP, has won from Sewapuri seat. BJP’s Kashi zone president Lakshman Acharya claimed that the party won on eight seats, five seats up from last local hustings. Candidates backed by Samajwadi Party have claimed victory in 25 seats with party district president Satish Fauji saying this time Zilla Panchayat will have an SP-backed president. Congress backed nominees have registered victory in 2 seats, while those supported by Bahujan Samaj Party and BJP ally Apna Dal won in 3 and 4 seats, respectively. Independent candidates got 6 seats. PTI