Lucknow civic poll results 2017: Counting underway, city to get first woman mayor

Polling officials collecting EVMs in Lucknow on Saturday. (Express Photo by Vishal Srivastav)

Counting for the Uttar Pradesh civil polls 2017 is underway in the state. The elections were held in three-phases for 652 urban bodies in UP. This municipal election is being seen as a test for the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government in the state which has come under heavy criticism by the Opposition for matters relating to governance as well as policy making. With the oncoming Assembly elections in the state of Gujarat, the BJP’s mettle will be put through an additional test.

State capital Lucknow is all set to receive its first woman mayor as the seat has been reserved for a woman candidate this time. In in the municipal elections of 2012, the BJP had led by winning 44 seats, followed by the Congress with 11 seats and SP with 1 seat. 54 seats had been claimed by candidates from other parties.

In Lucknow, BJP candidate Sayunkta Bhatiya is leading in race to the mayor’s seat by a margin of 5455 votes while Samajwadi Party’s nominee Meera Vardhan is at second position, based on the first round of counting.

This is the first time that a chief minister campaigned for municipal elections, as Adityanath himself promoted the party across 16 different municipalities.

Voting was held on November 22, 26 and 29. Turnout was recorded at 52.4 per cent, with the participation of 3.36 crore people having turned up to cast their votes, spread across 35,269 polling booths. The total number of candidates participating in the polls is 79,113.

READ | UP civic polls 2017 Live Updates: Counting underway, litmus test for Yogi Adityanath-led BJP govt

Unlike Adityanath, who was seen campaigning for the BJP, neither Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati nor Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav took to the streets for these polls.

By 9:45 am this morning, the BJP was in the lead in seven of the 16 civic bodies in the state. BJP’s mayoral candidate for Lucknow, Sanyukta Bhatia, told news agency ANI “I don’t consider anyone my competitor. I will be number one, no matter who is second or third.”