BJP sweeps Modi's Varanasi

The Modi magic worked to the hilt in his parliamentary constituency of Varanasi where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won all the eight seats.

While it was initially speculated that the party was in hot waters in Kashi, largely because its veteran, seven-time legislator Shyam Dev Narayan Chowdhary aka 'Dada' was denied a ticket from Varanasi South, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's three-day campaign in the temple town turned the tables on opponents.

In Varanasi South seat where the famous Kashi Vishwanath temple falls and a large number of Bengalis are settled, BJP's Neelkanth Tiwari defeated Congress candidate Rajesh Mishra.

BJP's Avdhesh Singh defeated his nearest Babu Lal of the BSP from the Pindara seat which was held by Congress's heavyweight Ajay Rai, who finished third this time.

BJP's Kailash Sonkar won from Ajgara, Anil Rajbhar from Shivpur and Surendra Narayan Singh won from Rohania, defeating his nearest SP rival Mahendra Singh Patel.

BJP's Ravindra Jaiswal defeated Congress's Abdul Samad Ansari from Varanasi North, Saurabh Srivastava emerged victorious from Varanasi Cantt, a seat never lost in the last 30 years by the BJP and Neel Ratan Patel from the BJP's ally Apna Dal won from Sevapuri.

--IANS

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