Uttar Pradesh panchayat polls: BJP, SP claim to lead over half of the seats

With the counting for the three-tier panchayat elections in UP still on, the ruling BJP and the opposition SP have claimed that their candidates have won over half of the zila panchayat seats

With the counting for the three-tier panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh still on, the ruling BJP and the opposition Samajwadi Party (SP) have claimed that their candidates have won over half of the zila panchayat seats.

While the panchayat elections in the state are not contested on party symbols, this time both the BJP and SP had officially declared the names of the candidates backed by them.

The Congress, too, had named its candidates on selected seats.

The BJP claimed that that out of the 3,051 members for the zila panchayat, 918 of their candidates had won and another 456 were leading.

BJP spokesman Harish Chandra Srivastava said that his party was winning majority of the seats in the panchayat elections which was a result of the welfare policies of the Centre and state governments.

The SP also claimed that more than 50 per cent of victorious candidates were backed by them.

SP spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said: "More than 50 per cent seats declared so far have been won by SP supported candidates. The BJP has lost its ground not just in urban areas but also in villages for their failure to provide governance, especially during the pandemic, and have been exposed."

The exact count will be known by Tuesday evening.

In a statement, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said that 70 party-supported candidates won the zila panchayat members' posts and over 200 bagged village pradhan posts.

The Congress, on the other hand, avoided commenting and maintained that they would share the list of their winning candidates on Tuesday.

A Congress spokesman however said: "The claims of SP and BJP are false. While the BJP had declared its candidates, the SP had not even properly named its candidates. Both are claiming the victory of independent candidates as their own."

Results for over 3.27 lakh panchayat posts out of the nearly six lakhs, for which polling took place across the state, have been declared.

In addition, over 3.19 lakh candidates were declared elected unopposed, before the counting began on Sunday at 826 centres.

The state Election Commission said apart from those who faced no contest, 2,32,612 village panchayat members, 38,317 village pradhans, 55,926 kshetra panchayat members and 181 zila panchayat members have so far been declared elected.

As counting of ballot papers continues, the results for over 2.23 lakh posts are yet to be out.

Nearly 13 lakh candidates took part in the panchayat elections held on April 15, 19, 26 and 29.

Many of them were 'nominated' or supported by the main political parties, but the panchayat elections were not held on party symbols.

--IANS

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