BJP sweeps legislative council polls in UP

Lucknow, Feb 11: The Bharatiya Jata Party (BJP) received a major boost in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh on Saturday when it won legislative council elections in three seats. BJP candidates won the Graduate constituencies of Kanpur, Gorakhpur-Faizabad and Bareilly-Moradabad, of elections held to five seats. Unlike the other elections, to vote as part of the Graduate Constituency, apart from being a citizen of India and a resident in the constituency, the main requirement is that the person must have a Graduate degree from a recognized Indian University, or an equivalent qualification. BJP’s Arun Pathak defeated his nearest Samajwadi Party (SP) rival in the Kanpur graduate constituency by 9,000 votes. In the Gorakhpur-Faizabad graduate constituency, BJP’s Devendra Pratap Singh defeated his nearest Secondary Education Federation Sharma Group’s Sanjayan Tripathi. In the Bareilly-Moradabad MLC graduate seat, BJP’s Jaypal Singh Vyast defeat his nearest SP-supported candidate Renu Mishra, while the Congress candidate Kumud Gangwar stood third. (IANS)