New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party has trounced the Opposition in the biennial elections to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council or the Upper House.
The party, however, has lost Varanasi, the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. BJP’s Dr Sudama Patel conceded it to independent candidate Annapurna Singh, wife of strongman Brijesh Kumar Singh.
Of the 37 seats vacant in the 100-member House, 36 went for votes on Saturday.
The BJP was way ahead in over 30 seats to get a majority — and is the first time in decades that it will have won both Houses in Uttar Pradesh. It has already won nine seats unopposed — a thumping endorsement of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s rising stature.
The voters in these elections were MPs, MLAs, city councillors and village representatives like pradhans.
The main Opposition, Samajwadi Party, was unlikely to win even one seat. This is bad news since party chief Akhilesh Yadav got a respectable tally of 111 seats in the Assembly elections held in February-March. The BJP won the Assembly a record second term with 255 seats.
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