Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath passed his first big test as the BJP swept the Urban Local Bodies elections by winning 14 out of 16 Mayoral posts including Kashi (Varanasi), Mathura and Ayodhya. The Civic polls were being seen as a referendum on Yogi Adityanath’s performance in the last eight months.
The BJP also registered spectacular victories in Nagar Palika Parishad and Nagar Panchyats by winning majority of the seats of Chairman and Ward members. Surprisingly, while the BSP won two Mayoral seats at Meerut and Aligarh, the Congress and Samajwadi Party drew a blank.
BJP candidates won Mayoral seats in Agra, Kanpur Nagar, Jhansi, Varanasi (PM’s Lok Sabha constituency), Allahabad, Gorakhpur (CM Yogi Adityanath’s hometown) , Lucknow, Mathura, Ferozabad, Ghaziabad, Saharanpur, Bareilly, Moradabad and Ayodhya. The BSP managed to bag the Mayoral seats in Aligarh and Meerut.
This time round, four new Nagar Nigams - Ayodhya-Faizabad, Saharanpur, Firozabad and Mathura- Vrindavan were added to the existing local bodies.
Interestingly, in Yogi’s backyard - Gorakhpur, the BJP candidate lost in Gorakhdham ward (Ward no 68) where the Chief Minister had cast his vote. Independent candidate Nadira Khatoon spoiled the party for the BJP.
A total of 79,113 candidates were in the fray for 12,647 posts in 16 Nagar Nigam, 198 Nagar Palika Panchyat and 438 Nagar Panchyat in ULB polls.
Voting for Nagar Nigam was held through EVMs and traditional ballot papers were used for Nagar Palika Parishad and Nagar Panchyat. As many as 17 political parties contested the elections on their respective election symbols.
With Friday’s emphatic win, Uttar Pradesh stamped itself as a Bharatiya Janata Party citadel. Following the rollout of Goods and Services Tax (GST) which led to confusion and resentment among traders, these elections were a big litmus test for the BJP’s grip over urban voters.
Not only has the BJP maintained its hold over the urban centers, it has also decimated rival Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress.
Upbeat over its victory ahead of the Assembly elections in Gujarat, the BJP described its success as `historic win due to the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his inclusive agenda of development’.
State capital Lucknow will have its first woman Mayor in 100 years as BJP’s Sanyukta Bhatia won the seat. After the results were declared, Bhatia said, “I don’t consider anyone my competitor. I will be number one, no matter who comes second or third.”
In 2012, the BJP had won 10 of 12 municipal corporations while one each was won by Independents backed by the SP and BSP.
The BJP was leading in most of the 198 municipal councils and 428 nagar panchayats with Samajwadi Party in second place. Last time, Independents backed by Samajwadi Party and BSP had won a majority of these in the last elections, with the BJP trailing.
After their crushing defeats in the March 2017 Assembly elections,the Samajwadi Party and BSP contested on their symbols. But in sharp contrast to Yogi Adityanath’s high-powered campaign, neither SP chief Akhilesh Yadav nor BSP boss Mayawati thought it prudent to campaign.
During the hectic poll campaign, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had asked voters to support the BJP the way they did in the 2014 Lok Sabha poll and the recent Assembly elections. The BJP had swept both elections by winning 73 out of total 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state in 2014 and 325 seats of the 403 seats in the Assembly.