Lucknow, Nov 2 (HT) : The Samajwadi Party appeared to be on course for an emphatic victory in the Uttar Pradesh’s panchayat polls while a disappointed BJP suffered a major setback in its quest to expand to rural areas, initial trends from the counting process showed on Monday.

The state’s ruling SP took the lead in rural local bodies across the state while the saffron party fared poorly even in high-profile constituencies, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Varanasi.

Rural polls are not fought on party symbols but most candidates are backed by political leaders. The panchayat elections were being seen as a semi-final to the 2017 assembly elections, when the BJP is aiming to storm back into power after sweeping the state in the Lok Sabha polls last year.

As a stream of discouraging results streamed in, BJP leaders conceded the trends indicated the party had a lot of ground to cover to have a shot at power in two years.

So far, candidates backed by the party have won just eight of the 58 seats on offer in Varanasi and just four of the 28 seats in Lucknow – home minister Rajnath Singh’s constituency – where results have been declared.

In Deoria -- Union minister Kalraj Mishra’s seat – BJP-backed picks have secured just seven of the 56y zila panchayat seats.

BJP state in-charge Om Mathur has convened a meeting in Lucknow on November 3 to discuss the results but the party has already accused the SP of misusing official machinery to influence the polls.

With 403 assembly seats and a kitty of 80 Lok Sabha parliamentarians, UP is one of India’s most politically-influential state and the BJP’s emphatic victory in the state, picking up 71 seats in the general elections, was pivotal in Modi storming to power.

A shocked SP has since then attempted to effect change with a series of cabinet reshuffles and attacking the BJP for trying to stoke communal hostilities. Last week, chief minister Akhilesh Yadav sacked eight ministers, cleaning house to stave off a BJP surge in the state.