UP panchayat polls: BJP loses in Ayodhya, rivals claim big wins

As counting of votes polled in the panchayat polls progressed across Uttar Pradesh, political parties on Tuesday claimed sterling performances, apparently taking advantage of the fact that these elections were not contested on party symbols.

A senior State Election Commission (SEC) official said Tuesday evening that counting of votes was likely to continue late into the night. He, however, could not specify on how many seats counting was underway.

The counting of votes began Sunday morning at more than 825 centres across the 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh.

The BJP has claimed 918 party candidates have been elected for zila panchayats while over 500 are leading.

In a statement issued here, Uttar Pradesh BJP chief Swatantra Deo Singh claimed on Monday that in the three-tier panchayat election in the state, over 45,000 party-supported candidates have won the post of village pradhan, while more than 60,000 party-supported candidates have emerged victorious as members of kshetra panchayats.

“As many as 918 partysupported candidates have won the post of members of zila panchayat,” he had said.

“On more than 450 seats, the party-supported candidates have taken a decisive lead,” Singh had said, attributing the performances to rural development and farmers' welfare ensured by the Yogi Adityanath government in the state. The BJP, however, stumbled in key districts of Ayodhya and Varanasi, media reports said. It won just six of 40 district panchayat seats in Ayodhya, while the Samajwadi Party won 24.

The Samajwadi Party too claimed a big victory over the BJP in the polls. The SP claimed it had won more than half of the posts in district panchayats, while alleging the administration was not handing over certificates to its candidates.

An SP office-bearer said it has so far won over 800 seats of district panchayat members (out of total 3,050). He alleged that BJP men are misusing official machinery and counting independent candidates as those supported by them.

Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav, meanwhile, on Tuesday claimed that in the UP panchayat polls people gave first priority to his party and said that they did a tremendous job to save the democracy by electing his party candidates.

“Even in the PM’S constituency (Varanasi) and CM'S turf (Gorakhpur), the BJP had to taste defeat. In Lucknow too, the BJP had to taste defeat despite misuse of official machinery,” the SP chief said.

The BJP claimed 918 party candidates have been elected for zila panchayats while over 500 are leading. Samajwadi Party said it has so far won over 800 seats of panchayat members (of total 3,050)