BJP sweeps UP civic polls; BSP makes comeback, SP wiped out

The  BJP swept the Uttar Pradesh urban local bodies elections, capturing 14 of the 16 mayoral seats, in what is seen as a  strong  boost ahead of the crucial Gujarat Assembly polls.  

While the  BSP made a comeback, winning the remaining two seats, the  Congress and Samajwadi Party drew a blank.

The results indicate that the BJP emerged victorious in more than half of the nagar panchayat seats.

The saffron party bagged the Lucknow, Kanpur, Allahabad, Ayodhya, Mathura, Agra, Moradabad, Bareilly, Gorakhpur, Varanasi, Ghaziabad, Jhansi, Saharanpur and Ferozabad mayoral seats, while the BSP won in Meerut and Aligarh.

BJP candidates won in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Lok Sabha constituency of Varanasi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's hometown of Gorakhpur by huge margins.

According to the state election office, the BJP has won in 198 municipalities and over 400 nagar panchayat seats.

AAP, AIMIM open account

The AAP, which had contested the civic polls for the first time in the state, opened its account, with its nominee Huma Khan winning  the Sahaspur nagar panchayat seat in Bijnore district.