Supporting panchayat candidates helped party: BJP

BJP today defended its decision to officially support candidates in the just concluded Uttar Pradesh panchayat polls, claiming that it "benefited" the party 10 times more than expected.
"Decision to contest pachayat polls was a political decision taken during state executive meeting at Mathura. It was decided that the party will contest all elections even that of cooperatives," state BJP president Laxmi Kant Bajpai told reporters here.
He also rejected report that the party lost in Jayapur village adopted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his parliamentary constituency Varanasi.
"From Jayapur two block development committee members backed by the party have won," he said.

Bajpai claimed the BJP was the only party that officially declared the list of candidates its supported.
"We have even disclosed the number of winning candidates backed by the BJP. We have won 536 seats which is 10 times higher than the past, when party workers used to contest the polls unofficially," he said.

The state president said that contesting panchayat polls infused fresh blood, provided new youth leadership to the party and it got success in entering even at the lowest level.
"Ask SP and BSP. Did they declare the list of their candidates? Now there is a competition between the two and they are claiming even independent candidates as their own which is immoral," he said.

Bajpai said that SP lost both the seats to BSP in a Azamgarh village, which has been adopted by SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav.
"A number of relatives and family members of ministers and senior SP leaders lost. If they have any morality left then they should resign or the government should drop them," he demanded.
While accusing the state government on failing on several fronts, the BJP state president demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.
"He should resign on the basis of inefficiency and SP supremo should replace him with some other person," he said.