VARANASI: In a setback to Samajwadi Party during the electioneering of civic polls, the party lost its hold on district panchayat in the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi SP's district panchayat president Aprajita Sonkar joined Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday at Lucknow party office."Yes, I joined BJP today," said Aprajita while talking to TOI over phone from Lucknow, but she avoided to make any comment regarding shifting her loyalty in such a crucial time.Earlier, BJP had moved a no-confidence motion against her in July. But, in a major setback to the BJP, the no-confidence motion failed in absence of BJP members. While Aprajita had expressed her happiness over the victory giving credit to the unity of her supporters, the BJP camp maintained complete silence on it. There are 48 members in Zila Panchayat.Presence of at least 25 members out of 48 is required for passing the no confidence motion. In Zila Panchayat election in January 2016, the SP had fielded B.Tech. candidate Aprajita, while BJP had fielded Amit Sonkar . Aprajita, who had no political background, was elected for the first time as Zila panchayat member from sector 1 of Chiraigaon block, while Amit was elected from sector 1 of Harahua block.The BJP camp viewed her joining as the expansion of party. "Our party is expanding, and people from other political parties are welcomed," said the BJP spokesperson of Kashi Kshetra Sanjay Bharadwaj.

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