Video Producer: Kanishk Dangi
Video Editor: Puneet Bhatia
Amid widespread violence that broke out on voting day for the block panchayat chief polls being held across Uttar Pradesh on Saturday, 10 July, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) reportedly won over 600 seats out of 825.
As many as 1,710 candidates had contested for 476 posts of block polls in the state. The voting began at 11 am and ended by 3 pm, followed by the counting of votes.
UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced that the BJP won 635 out of the 825 seats in the block panchayat elections, Times Now reported.
The BJP also claimed that 335 seats were won unopposed. Meanwhile, the SP has won 71 blocks, while 80 seats were won by other parties and independent candidates, News18 reported.
Violence had also been observed during the nomination of papers on Thursday.
Violence was reported from Unnao, Etawah, Hamirpur, Amroha, Prayagraj, Chandauli, and other districts in the state.
Unnao
In Unnao’s Miyaganj block, Block Development Committee (BDC) members were stopped from voting, chased through fields and were beaten up by miscreants.
Some journalists covering the violence were surrounded by miscreants, and their vehicles were blocked.
The district magistrate and superintendent of police stood hardly 50 metres away from these incidents, sources told The Quint, adding that however, they remained unaware of the situation.
Hamirpur
In Hamirpur district, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won unopposed in two out of seven blocks. Sumerpur block was considered a sensitive block, where speculations of violence erupting were raised earlier.
Clashes between party workers of Samajwadi Party (SP) and the BJP witnessed in Hamirpur led to several dozens of people destroying cars. The police lathi-charged the supporters and miscreants, in order to control the situation, injuring several people.
The police is also taking action against those indulging in the violence.
On Friday, SP candidate Jai Narayan Yadav with 49 BDC members was beaten up by BJP workers in a school in Jalaun. Jalaun police had detained people from both sides.
Hamirpur SP Narendra Singh said that after being released, when Yadav came to the Sumerpur block to vote on Saturday, members from both the sides clashed again and destroyed several vehicles. This led to another lathi-charge by the police, due to which SP supporters could not vote. The police has registered a case and is investigating the matter.
Etawah
In Badpura block, amid clashes between SP and BJP workers, BJP workers also collided with the police. The workers reportedly fired more than a dozen rounds.
Meanwhile, as the police fired tear gas, special police was called in.
Meanwhile, a video from Etawah has also surfaced, in which a policeman is seen talking to his senior on the phone saying, "These people (BJP) have brought bombs too".
Amroha
SP and BJP workers clashed in Amroha’s Joya Block as well, where police had to lathi-charge people during the voting. SP MLA Mehboob Ali’s nephew Zulfekar Ali, who has won the block polls thrice in a row, is the candidate in Joya Block. BJP’s candidate for the block panchayat is Kushal Kumar.
Chandauli
Stone-pelting took place during voting in Sadar Block. Chaos ensued once BJP MLA Sharda Prasad reached the voting booth, as SP and BJP members clashed. Over a dozen people were injured.
BJP Has Crossed All Limits: Congress
The Congress on Saturday slammed the BJP government over rising violence since the day of nominations, with Rahul Gandhi saying that the violence has been renamed “masterstroke” in the state.
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra alleged that the BJP had “crossed” all limits to stop the nomination of a woman in the polls.
She said in a tweet in Hindi, “A few years ago, a rape survivor had raised her voice against a BJP MLA and an attempt was made to kill her and her family. Today, the BJP crossed all limits to stop the nomination of a woman. Same government. Same behaviour.”
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