In what appears to be a fantastic political premiere for the BJP ahead of the UP Assembly election early next year, the party has registered a thumping victory by winning 65 out of 75 seats in the Uttar Pradesh Zila panchayat elections.
The Samajwadi Party was able to win only 6 seats at the polls. The Apna Dal won the Sonbhadra seat while the Jansatta Dal, led by independent MLA Raghuraj Pratap Singh or Raja Bhaiyya, has won the Pratapgarh seat.
The Jaunpur seat was won by Srikala Singh Reddy, wife of former BSP MP Dhananjay Singh.
Chairpersons of 22 zila panchayats out of a total of 75 in Uttar Pradesh had been declared elected unopposed on Tuesday with BJP winning 21 seats and one seat (Etawah) went to Samajwadi Party.
The districts where Zila panchayat chairpersons won unopposed are Saharanpur, Bahraich, Etawah, Chitrakoot, Agra, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahr, Amroha, Moradabad, Lalitpur, Jhansi, Banda, Shravasti, Balrampur, Gonda, Gorakhpur, Mau, Varanasi, Pilibhit and Shahjahanpur.
According to reports, the BJP-supported candidates managed to register victory in Ayodhya and Mathura, the epicentre of Hindutva politics.
While in Ayodhya, BJP-backed candidate Roli Singh defeated SP-backed Indu Sen Yadav, in Mathura, BJP-supported candidate Kisan Singh registered a win against RLD-backed Rajendra Singh Sikarwar.
The BSP did not officially contest the elections and the Congress hit rock bottom and could not win even a single seat.
Following the BJP’s victory at the Zila panchayat elections – counting for which was completed on Saturday – the Samajwadi Party workers staged protests outside various collectorate offices in different districts of Uttar Pradesh as the party alleged rigging of elections.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav accused the ruling BJP of using fear and greed to grab the posts of chairpersons of the Zila panchayats. He also alleged that the BJP is using the administration in every district to register fake cases against SP candidates and threatening them. The party urged Governor Anandiben Patel to intervene in this regard.
Shalabh Mani Tripathi, advisor to UP chief minister, has lauded the people of Uttar Pradesh and said, “People have made it clear what lies in their heart for those who spread chaos and corruption in UP. It is a big victory for the BJP. This win of the Zila panchayat election is the victory of the people of Uttar Pradesh. Those who have lost have nothing to say, therefore they will level allegations. The people of Uttar Pradesh have shown their faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Yogi Adityanath. Many opposition leaders were saying that this is a semi-final, therefore the result of the semi-final is out and now the final (UP election) is awaited.”
