Parties claim victory amid counting of votes

LUCKNOW : As counting of votes polled in the panchayat elections progressed across Uttar Pradesh, political parties Tuesday claimed sterling performances.

Though the elections are not fought on party symbol, major political parties, including the BJP, had taken the plunge by supporting candidates as it gave them a ground to test the waters ahead of the 2022 assembly polls.

While the ruling BJP claimed to have maintained an edge over the opposition in the three-tier panchayat elections, its loss in West UP and prime religious centres like Ayodhya and Varanasi came as a rude shock. In Varanasi, SP won 15 of 40 wards, BJP seven, BSP seven and Congress five wards so far.

The Samajwadi Party-backed candidates and independents have also said to have made substantial gains across the state.

National president of Samajwadi Party and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday congratulated partybacked candidates for their victory in the panchayat elections but also told them that they should help the needy and not celebrate victory in view of the pandemic raging in the state. “The ruling BJP was a sinking ship. The results of the panchayat elections clearly show that BJP will face defeat in the 2022 assembly elections,” he said adding, “Even in the Prime Minister’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 Samajwadi Party has claimed victory on a large number of zila panchayat wards in Ayodhya, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Gorakhpur and Lucknow, considered a stronghold of the ruling BJP. The party has also retained its hold in the districts considered its bastion -- Etawah, Kannauj, Mainpuri, Mathura, Azamgarh, Etah, Kasganj and Farrukhabad -- by bagging maximum seats.

The BSP-backed candidates bagged majority of the seats in Ghazipur, Auraiya, Jalaun and Fatehpur.

The BJP, however, failed to get desired results in west UP districts that were the center of the farmer’s agitation earlier this year.

The three-tier panchayat elections are considered semifinal before the 2022 state assembly elections, which are likely to indicate the mood of the voters.

The counting of votes was in progress on Tuesday at 826 centres across the state for 58,176 posts of gram pradhans, 7,32,485 gram panchayat members, 75,852 kshetra panchayat ward members and 3,051 zila panchayat ward members.

Trends and results available for 3,050 district panchayat wards on Tuesday evening showed SP ahead at 760 wards, BJP at 719, Bahujan Samaj Party at 381 and Congress at 76. Independents and smaller parties secured victories or led in 1,114 wards.

While these elections are not contested on the party symbol, the BJP, SP, BSP, Congress, AAP, AIMIM, SBSP and the Apna Dal have officially released the names of the candidates for the zila panchayat wards backed by them. The zila panchayat ward members vote in the election to the post of the zila panchayat chairmen, to be held later this month.

The state election commission (SEC) has already made it clear that though political parties may have put up candidates, results won’t be declared on party lines. The polls were fought on free symbols allotted by the State Election Commission (SEC). Political parties, however, supported candidates for lakhs of posts from village to the district panchayat level.

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.

While the BJP had mobilized its election machinery to show its hold in the rural areas, the SP, BSP and the Congress too had activated their cadre to challenge the might of the saffron brigade.

Earlier on Monday, BJP state unit president Swatantra Deo Singh had claimed that 918 party candidates had been elected for zila panchayats while over 500 were leading. He said, over 45,000 party-supported candidates had won the post of village pradhan, while more than 60,000 party-supported candidates emerged victorious as members of kshetra panchayats.

BJP state unit spokesperson Harish Chandra Srivastava on Tuesday said his party would secure victory on maximum number of zila panchayat wards as the BJP government at the centre and in the state had launched several schemes for the welfare of the rural masses.

Independent candidates, majority of them rebels from various political parties, are likely to play a crucial role in the election of the zila panchayat chairmen, to be held later this month, as many of them had emerged victorious in majority of the zila panchayat wards in the 75 districts of the state.

National general secretary of Rashtriya Lok Dal Anil Dubey said the party candidates secured victory in the zila panchayat wards in Aligarh, Mathura, Baghpat, Meerut, Bulandshahr, Shamli, Ghaziabad and Bijnore.

Uttar Pradesh held panchayat polls in four phases ending April 29. The election was held at four levels of panchayat bodies — gram panchayat, gram pradhan, block panchayat and zila panchayat.

(With agency inputs)

WHILE THE BJP HAD MOBILIZED ITS ELECTION MACHINERY TO SHOW ITS HOLD IN THE RURAL AREAS, THE SP, BSP AND CONGRESS TOO HAD ACTIVATED THEIR CADRE