Counting of zila panchayat chairman posts in 53 districts of Uttar Pradesh is currently underway. The elections were scheduled to be held in 75 districts but since chairpersons of 22 zila panchayats of the state were declared elected unopposed on Tuesday, polls were conducted in the remaining districts on Saturday.
The polling began at 11 am on Saturday and continued till 3 pm and the counting of votes began right after that, the State Election Commission said.
Meanwhile, a video has gone viral on social media where former Samajwadi Party MP from Chandauli Ramkishun Yadav can be seen falling at the feet of voters (elected members of zila panchayat) to allegedly seek votes for his nephew, prompting the BJP spokesperson in the state Rakesh Tripathi to take a jibe at his party.
"Those (SP) who fled in the last elections (2017 and 2019) were seen falling at the feet of voters and begging for votes. This took place on Friday night," Tripathi said.
SP MLC Ashutosh Sinha however said Yadav only touched the feet of independent voters. "Tej Narayan Yadav is the nephew of Ramkishun Yadav. Tej Narayan is supported by the SP for the post of zila panchayat chairperson," he told PTI.
Twenty two candidates elected unopposed, BJP claims victory in 21 seats
Of the 22 seats, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won in 21, while the Samajwadi Party grabbed one seat in Etawah.
The poll panel did not announce the party affiliation of the winning candidates, but the BJP later claimed victory over 21 seats and the SP over one seat of the Etawah district.
"The BJP won 21 posts of zila panchayat chairpersons who were elected unopposed," BJP general secretary JPS Rathore was quoted as saying by PTI.
The districts where zila panchayat chairpersons won unopposed are Saharanpur, Bahraich, Etawah, Chitrakoot, Agra, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahr, Amroha, Moradabad, Lalitpur, Jhansi, Banda, Shravasti, Balrampur, Gonda, Gorakhpur, Mau, Varanasi, Pilibhit and Shahjahanpur.
How is a panchayat chairman elected?
The panchayat polls or those for district panchayat chiefs are not held on a party basis but candidates enjoy the tacit support of various parties.
Zila panchayat chairpersons are elected from among the elected members of zila panchayats of various districts.
The four-phase panchayat polls concluded in the state last month.
Akhliesh Yadav alleges SP candidates 'prevented' from filing nomination
In the run-up to the polls, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav had accused Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath of rigging the district panchayat chairpersons elections.
"The CM has crossed all limits in rigging the district panchayat chairperson elections. His undemocratic conduct has posed a threat to the constitutional institutions in the state," Akhilesh Yadav had said on 28 June.
"Hijacking the mandate, the state administration forcibly prevented candidates of Samajwadi Party and other Opposition parties from filing nominations," the former chief minister also said in a statement.
गोरखपुर व अन्य जगह जिस तरह à¤ाजपा सरकार ने पंचायत अध्यक्ष के चुनाव में समाजवादी पार्टी के प्रत्याशियों को नामांकन करने से रोका है, वो हारी हुई à¤ाजपा का चुनाव जीतने का नया प्रशासनिक हथकंडा है।
à¤ाजपा जितने पंचायत अध्यक्ष बनायेगी, जनता विधानसà¤ा में उन्हें उतनी सीट à¤ी नहीं देगी। pic.twitter.com/QNWtI92xJE
— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) June 26, 2021
On 26 June, the Samajwadi Party sacked the presidents of its 11 district units without giving any reason, but sources told PTI that they were ousted as they did not turn up for filing their nomination papers for the post of zila panchayat chairman.
Why is BSP not contesting the panchayat polls
On Monday, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati had said her party has decided not to contest the Zila Panchayat chairman elections as it wants to channelise its energy on strengthening the organisation before the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls next year.
The BSP president asserted that the people of the state want her party to form the next government and said she will go to polls with the slogan "Uttar Pradesh ko bachana hai, bachana hai, sarvjan ko bachana hai, bachana hai, BSP ko satta mein lana hai, zaroor lana hai" (We need to save Uttar Pradesh and save everyone and bring BSP back to power).
Instead of contesting the Zila Parishad chairman elections, the party has decided to concentrate on strengthening the party organisation and expand the base, Mayawati had told newspersons.
"Once the BSP forms its government in the state, the majority of the Zila Panchayat chairman themselves will join the BSP as they cannot function without power. We have kept this fact in mind and so decided not to contest the election," she had said.
With inputs from agencies
July 03, 2021 at 04:37PM
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