Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 3

Following days of high drama laced with claims, counterclaims and allegations between the two main contenders, the BJP and the SP, the saffron party on Saturday emerged a clear winner, managing a clean sweep in the Zila Panchayat Chairperson election in Uttar Pradesh.

Ahead of the high-stake Assembly elections next year, the beleaguered ruling party received a shot in the arm by winning 46 of the 53 posts, the elections for which were held today.

Earlier, the BJP won 21 seats unopposed after several Opposition candidates switched over and withdrew from the contest, leading to allegations of “kidnapping and use of force” against it by the SP. With this, 67 of the 75 candidates backed by the saffron party and its ally Apna Dal won, including in the prestigious Gorakhpur and Varanasi.

Main rival in UP, the Samajwadi Party, could manage only five, RLD one and others two.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath called it an indication of the people’s confidence in ‘sushashan’ of the ruling BJP.

Congratulating winners, Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya tweeted saying “kaho dil se, 2022 pe bhajapa phir se”. Incidentally, “kaho dil se, Akhilesh phir se” is also a slogan of SP.

Crying foul, Akhilesh Yadav charged the BJP with “making a mockery of the elections”, alleging that the party “kidnapped” voters and used “force” with the “help of police and administration to stop them from voting”. “The BJP made a mockery of all democratic norms, something not seen earlier,” he claimed. Hitting back, BJP leaders said Yadav was trying to get out of owning defeat by blaming them.

Political analyst Sudhir Panwar, who is also associated with the SP, said “BJP’s massive victory is in confrontation with people’s mandate in panchayat elections in April. The rural electorate is feeling cheated and is determined to teach the BJP a lesson in Assembly polls, next year”.

The rural body polls had become a prestige issue for the ruling BJP.

The elections were primarily a contest between the BJP and the SP and its ally RLD. The Mayawati-led BSP boycotted the elections, citing misuse of official machinery and the Congress lost the only seat it contested in Rae Bareli, the bastion of the Gandhi family.

Given that these elections are not fought on party symbols but political affiliations, as many as 747 SP members were elected in the elections held in April, followed by 690 of the BJP and 381 of the BSP.

The BJP was under severe criticism over the “mishandling of the Covid pandemic” and results were seen as a reflection on the governance of CM Adityanath. Though, according to the BJP, all Independent candidates were its members and therefore it won 981 seats.

Soon after the results in May, senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy made an interesting extrapolation of panchayat results on the Assembly constituencies’ map, claiming that the SP had won 243 Assembly seats, the BJP 67 and others 47.

According to Swamy, 46 of 403 Assembly seats in the state were “purely urban” and therefore, panchayat polls covered 357 rural Assembly seats. Swamy said out of 357 seats, “SP wins 243 and BJP wins 67 and the rest 47. If I have it wrong, correct me”.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi credited CM Yogi Adityanath's policies for the party's “historic victory” in the local body polls.

“The glorious victory of BJP in the UP zila panchayat elections is the blessings of the people for development, public service and rule of law. The credit for this goes to the policies of Chief Minister Yogi ji and the tireless work of the party workers. Hearty congratulations to the UP government and the BJP organisation,” he said.