DHAKA: BJP general secretary Varun Gandhi, 34, has won from Sultanpur, a constituency which neighbours Amethi.

He defeated Amita Singh, a former national badminton champion and former MP Sanjay Singh’s wife.

Singh, who romped home from the constituency in 2009, was earlier this year elected to the Rajya Sabha from Assam.

Varun had contested the 2009 Lok Sabha polls from Pilibhit, but shifted to Sultanpur ‘to continue the legacy of his father Sanjay’.

Sanjay Gandhi, former prime minister Indira Gandhi’s younger son, was elected to Parliament from Amethi in 1980, but died in a plane crash soon after.

Amethi till the last decade was a part of Sultanpur district.

Varun Gandhi, in his campaign trail, refrained from taking the name of Narendra Modi, the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, and, instead, fought on his father’s legacy.

The BJP, and its ally Apna Dal, are leading in 57 of the 80 constituencies in Uttar Pradesh. It had 10 in the outgoing Lok Sabha.

BDST: 1500 HRS, MAY 16, 2014