UP civic poll win a prelude to 2019 Lok Sabha elections: Yogi Adityanath

Reacting to the Bharatiya Janta Party's massive win in the Uttar Pradesh civic polls, state Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that the victory had 'laid the foundation' for the party to win all the 80 seats in the upcoming 2019 general elections.

Speaking to Hindustan Times, Adityanath also took a subtle dig at Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav saying that the duo were not youth leaders.

Hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's development vision and BJP President Amit Shah's organisational strategy, Adityanath added that the victory was a litmus test to his seven-month long leadership.

BJP won 14 out of the 16 mayoral seats, including the prestigious Ayodhya and Varanasi municipalities. Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party won the remaining two seats in Aligarh and Meerut.  

The SP could not win even a single mayoral seat and the results have come as a major setback to party president Akhilesh Yadav, who had claimed that his party would 'thrash BJP' in the local body polls.

It wasn't a good outing for the Congress either as the party lost to the BJP in Amethi, which is Rahul Gandhi's constituency. Gandhi had not campaigned a single time during the civic elections.

In 2012 urban local bodies polls, the BJP had won 12 out of 14 mayoral seats.