UP Civic Polls: BJP Sweeps, Akhilesh Hints at EVM Rigging
The final phase of the polls, held on 29 November, recorded 53% voter turnout.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday swept 14 of the 16 mayoral seats in the Uttar Pradesh civic polls. The party however lost out on the Gorakhpur ward to an independent candidate Nadira Khatoon. The Congress in turn lost out on the Amethi seat to BJP. The BSP bagged the Aligarh and Meerut mayoral seats.
Around 3.32 crore people in urban Uttar Pradesh are estimated to have voted in the three-phase polls for sixteen nagar nigams, 71 nagar palika parishads, and 154 nagar panchayats that were held from 22 November.
- BJP wins 14 of 16 mayoral seats in UP civic polls
- Congress fares poorly in Amethi, BJP loses out on Gorakhpur ward
- Four injured in police lathicharge on a crowd that had gathered outside the counting centre in Muzaffarnagar
- Polling took place for sixteen nagar nigams, 71 nagar palika parishads, and 154 nagar panchayats in three phases
BJP Mum on Defeat in UP Nagar Panchayat Polls: Akhilesh
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav accused the BJP of "spreading lies" and said the party was patting itself for its win in Uttar Pradesh's mayoral elections, but was mum on their defeat in nagar palika and nagar panchayat polls.
"BJP is a 'jhoot parosne waali party' (one which indulges in serving lies). It won 14 out of 16 mayoral seats in UP due to electronic voting machines (EVMs). But it is not discussing its defeats in nagar palika and nagar parishad elections," he said.
Akhilesh, who was here to attend a wedding, said, "If countries more developed than India can use ballot papers for voting, what is the problem in India? The Election Commission must clarify how it could repair a faulty EVM. When a faulty EVM can be repaired, a properly functioning EVM can be tampered with".
The opposition parties like the SP, Congress, AAP and others have accused the BJP of tampering with the EVMs, and have rooted for an alternative way of casting votes.
Akhilesh Yadav Alleges Foul Play
Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav took to Twitter a day after the UP civic poll results, to suggest foul play.
UP Civic Poll Results Nothing Compared to What Will Happen in Guj: Shah
BJP chief Amit Shah said his party’s victory in the Uttar Pradesh mayoral polls was nothing compared to what was going to happen in Gujarat on 18 December, when the state Assembly election results would be declared.
“The Congress has been shouting for the last three months that ‘Congress aave chhe’ (Congress is coming in Gujarat), while today, the people of Uttar Pradesh said ‘Congress jae chhe’ (Congress is going),” he said.
Ayodhya Gets its First Mayor
Barely a couple of weeks before he turns 41, Rishikesh Upadhayay virtually got the perfect birthday gift from the voters of Ayodhya and Faizabad, who elected him as the first mayor of this temple town situated around 120 km from the state capital Lucknow.
An elated Upadhyay said that he wishes to filfil the aspirations of the people and also hoped that "after the judgement of the Supreme Court, a grand Ram temple will be constructed in Ayodhya.
"The place where Lord Ram was born, a temple must be built," he said.
Upadhyay's victory also assumes significance, as it was from Ayodhya that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath kicked off his hectic blitzkrieg for the UP urban local body elections.
BJP's Sanyukta Bhatia Elected Lucknow's First Woman Mayor
BJP leader Sanyukta Bhatia created history today as she was elected the first mayor of Lucknow defeating nearest rival, Samajwadi Party's Meera Vardhan, by a huge margin of 1,31,356 votes.
A woman had never been the mayor of state capital Lucknow but this time the seat was reserved for women.
Bhatia polled 3,77,166 votes while Vardhan, kin of educationist Acharya Narendra Dev, came second polling 2,45,810.
Congress candidate Prema Awasthi, wife of the former legislator Surendra Nath Awasthi and BSP candidate Bulbul Godiyal were relegated to the third and the fourth place respectively in a field of 19.
BSP's Furqan Beats BJP Rival to Become Aligarh Mayor
In a shot in the arm for Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), its candidate Mohammad Furqan won the mayoral contest in Aligarh even as the BJP otherwise dominated the civic polls in the state.
Furqan defeated BJP candidate Rajiv Agarwal by a margin of 11,990 votes in what was virtually a direct contest to become the first Muslim to occupy the post after independence.
The BSP candidate's victory is significant as the Mayawati-led party was badly mauled in the state Assembly elections earlier this year.
Traditionally, Aligarh has been a bastion of the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), which has never lost this seat ever since the system of direct voting was introduced for the mayoral post in 1995. The saffron party bagged this post in all the four previous elections.
BJP Loses Four of Six Municipal Bodies in Gautam Buddh Nagar
According to Hindustan Times, Bharatiya Janata Party has lost elections in four out of six municipal bodies in Gautam Budh Nagar District, winning only Dadri and Rabupura civic polls.
PM Modi Congratulates UP BJP on Victory
PM Modi congratulated the Uttar Pradesh BJP’s patty workers on securing a victory in the civic polls.
“Development has triumphed once again in the country. Thank people of the state for this grand victory. Many congratulations to CM Yogi Adityanath & all party workers. This win motivates us to work even harder for people's betterment,” he tweeted.
"Will Support Yogi If Need Be": Independent Candidate Who Won From Gorakhpur
The Independent candidate Nadira Khatoon who won from Gorakhpur said she would consider supporting Yogi Adityanath if needed. “I fought and won on the agenda of development. I will support him if need arises”, she said.
Party Workers Celebrate Outside BJP Office
BJP Wins in Puranpur
BJP candidate from Pilibhit's Puranpur, Pradeep Jaiswal, wins.
Three Independent Candidates Win Nagar Panchayat Seats
Three independent candidates Pramod Jayaswal, Rukshana & Vijay Sahu win Nagar Panchayat seats in Jafrabad, Madiyahun & Kerakat respectively in Jaunpur.
"I Credit This Win to PM Modi and BJP National President Amit Shah": UP CM Yogi
Addressing a press conference on the UP civic polls, CM Yogi Adityanath dedicated the party’s landslide victory in the polls to PM Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah.
Taking a jibe at Congress, which lost the Amethi seat in the civic polls, Adityanath said:
Adityanath added that following the party’s success in the UP civic polls, the BJP will now look forward to achieve the goal of 100% success in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
BSP Candidate Wins Mayor Seat from Aligarh
Bahujan Samaj Party’s candidate Mohammad Furkan wins Mayor seat in Aligarh.
BJP Loses Gorakhpur
BJP's Maya Tripathi loses ward number 68 in Gorakhpur to independent candidate Nadira. The Gorakhnath Temple is situated in this ward, ANI reported.
BJP Leading in 16 Seats
Out of 16 mayor seats, the BJP is ahead in 14 and and BSP in two.
Congress Loses Two Seats
The Congress lost in Jais and Gauriganj where Nagar Palika polls were held. In Amethi and Musafirkhana, where Nagar Panchayat polls were held, the party had not fielded candidates.
BJP Leads in Varanasi, Firozabad
BJP’s mayoral candidates are leading in Varanasi and Firozabad, ANI reports.
BJP Wins Lucky Draw in Ward 56 in Mathura
BJP candidate Meera Agarwal won the lucky draw in Ward number 56 in Mathura. Both the BJP and the Congress candidates had got 874 votes which resulted in a lucky draw.
Four Injured in Lathicharge
Four injured in police lathicharge on a crowd that had gathered outside the counting centre in Muzaffarnagar. The crowd reportedly consisted of BJP workers and journalists.
"Winner by Lucky Draw"
BJP and Congress both received 874 votes in Ward number 56 in Mathura and now the winner will be decided by a lucky draw, as ANI reported.
BJP Leading in Kanpur
BJP Mayor candidate Sanyukta Bhatia leads in Lucknow, SP in second, Congress third and BSP fourth, ANI reports. BJP’s mayoral candidate is in the lead in Kanpur, Congress is in second, BSP third and SP fourth, according to ANI.
"We Fought Alone and Will be Victorious"
BJP’s Uttar Pradesh Chief Mahendra Nath Pandey was happy about the party’s early gains, given that the party fought alone.
BSP, Congress Gain Ground
The BSP mayoral candidate is in the lead in Meerut and Congress in Mathura, as ANI reported.
BJP Candidate Confident of Victory
Bhatia was also seen offering prayers in a temple ahead of counting. Asha Sharma, Mayor candidate from Ghaziabad also performed prayers ahead of Municipal polls results.
BJP Leads in 12 Mayoral Seats
BJP's mayoral candidates are leading in Mathura, Firozabad, Kanpur, Lucknow, Varanasi, Allahabad, Bareilly, Aligarh, Moradabad, Gorakhpur and Ayodhya as per initial trends. The BSP was leading in Meerut, Saharanpur, Agra, Jhansi and Ghaziabad.
Congress is trailing behind at fourth place.
Results to Be Announced on Friday
The results for the Uttar Pradesh civic polls will be announced on Friday, 1 December. Polling for five municipal corporations, 71 nagar palika parishads, and 154 nagar panchayats was held in three phases.
The first two phases took place on 22 and 26 November. The final phase was held on 29 November reported 53 percent voter turnout.
Polling days saw a few reported complaints about voters’ names missing and malfunctioning of EVMs. When asked about the complaints regarding the EVMs, State Election Commissioner SK Agarwal told reporters that 503 units were replaced out of the 32,374 in use across the state.
Heavy Campaigning Ahead of Polls
Some 3.32 crore people in urban Uttar Pradesh voted in the crucial polls, ahead of which UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath criss-crossed the state to woo voters in the name of development. Meanwhile, opposition SP, BSP and Congress campaigns were comparatively low key. SP supremo Akhilesh Yadav and BSP chief Mayawati did not campaign for their candidates, as PTI reported.
In 2012, the Bharatiya Janata Party had won 10 of the 12 corporations. A majority of the councils in 2012 were won by Independents, backed by the Samajwadi Party and Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which did not contest the elections directly. Of the 423 nagar panchayats, Independents had won 352 while the BJP got 36.
(With inputs from PTI and ANI)
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