BJP bags 21 Zila panchayat chairperson seats in UP

Lucknow: The State Election Commission (SEC) on Tuesday confirmed that the BJP in Uttar Pradesh won Zila panchayat chairperson seats in 21 districts after rival contestants either withdrew from the fray or turned to support the ruling party.

In Chitrakoot, Agra, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahr, Amroha, Moradabad, Lalitpur, Jhansi, Banda, Shravasti, Balrampur, Gonda, Gorakhpur, Mau and Varanasi, BJP candidates were elected unopposed.

In Saharanpur, Bahraich, Pilibhit and Shahjahanpur, BJP backed candidates won after opposition backed candidates withdrew their nomination. In Bahraich, SP-backed Neha Ajiz withdrew, paving way for BJP's Manju Singh. In Pilibhit, SP candidate Swami Pravaktanand withdrew, allowing BJP-backed Baljeet Kaur a victory. Pravaktanand was earlier a BJP candidate who then walked into the SP camp after the BJP chose not to support him in the chairman's election. In Shahjahanpur, SP-supported Beenu Singh jumped ship to the BJP, allowing BJP's Mamta Yadav an easy victory. In Saharanpur, BJP-supported Mange Ran Chaudhary won after BSP-supported Jaiveer withdrew. The opposition, and mainly the SP, has accused the BJP of rigging and orchestrating the withdrawal of nominations by opposition-backed candidates. BSP president Mayawati had earlier announced that her party would not support any candidates in the panchayat elections, citing rigging.

In Etawah, however, the Samajwadi Party (SP) won unopposed. Akhilesh Yadav's cousin Anshul Yadav won the seat.

In the remaining 53 seats, polling and counting of votes will take place on Saturday. 38 districts, including Ayodhya and Mathura, will witness a direct contest between the BJP and opposition-backed candidates.