Uttar Pradesh: 349 win unopposed for block pramukh posts, BJP claims victory on 334 seats

LUCKNOW: As the time of withdrawal of nomination ended on Friday, the state election commission declared 349 candidates elected unopposed for the block chair man posts.
BJP has claimed that as many as 334 candidates supported by the party have won without polling.

In all, 187 candidates took back their nomination papers on Friday. Polling for the rest 476 seats will be conducted on Saturday between 11 am to 3 pm, after which counting of votes will be conducted.
Although the block chairman elections are not contested on party symbols, the BJP claimed to have its supported candidates winning over 334 seats as unopposed.
The Samajwadi Party, which was in direct contest with the BJP, accused the ruling party of resorting to misuse of government machinery.
There were also incidents of violence reported from various parts of the state during filing of nomination papers.
According to the commission, 1,778 candidates filed their nomination of which 68 had their candidature cancelled following discrepancies in their nomination papers.
Mujhena block off poll process
On Thursday, which was the day of filing of nomination, the BJP put out a statement claiming 292 party supported candidates were tipped to get a walkover after the opposition, mainly the SP, claimed could not get a suitable candidate and their proposers.
According to the commission, 1,778 candidates filed their nomination of which 68 had their candidature cancelled following discrepancies in their nomination papers.
This way 1,710 candidates were left. Of this, 187 candidates took back their nomination papers, leaving 1,523 candidates in fray.
Of the total 826 blocks, elections had to be held on 825 chairman seats by over 75,000 ward members who were elected in April. The Mujhena block of Gonda has been kept out of the election since its term is till early 2022.
Last week, 66 out of 75 seats for Zila Panchayat chairman were won by the BJP supported candidates.
This included 21 seats which were won by BJP backed candidates as unopposed. One seat – Sonebhadra – was won by a candidate supported by BJP’s ally Apna Dal (Sone Lal).
The Samajwadi Party supported candidates, on the other hand, won five seats which also included Etawah which was won by Akhilesh’s cousin Anshul Yadav as unopposed, after BJP did not field a candidate.