As the BJP swept the civic polls in Uttar Pradesh, winning all 17 urban local bodies for which polling was held in two phases, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday said his party won more than double the seats that it did last time.
In the last urban local body polls in 2017, the BJP had won a mere 60 seats. As the counting trends put the saffron party firmly on course for a clean sweep, BJP leaders were seen exchanging sweets with CM Adityanath as he arrived to address a press conference in Lucknow.
Addressing media persons, the CM said, “This year, we won more than double the 60 seats that we bagged in the 2017 urban local body polls.”
“Our ally Apna Dal (Sonelal) has also won the Suar and Chanbe (Assembly) bypolls, defeating their nearest rivals from the Samajwadi Party. I thank the voters for reposing their trust in us and giving us the opportunity to serve them in urban local bodies. I want to assure the people that our government will continue to work for their welfare, security and progress,” he added.
Taking to Twitter, CM Yogi said, “Hearty congratulations to all the dedicated and hardworking workers of @BJP4UP and the citizens of Uttar Pradesh, who love good governance, on the massive victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Uttar Pradesh municipal elections! This colossal victory reflects the successful guidance of respected Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji and immense public faith in the pro-people, developmental and all-inclusive policies of the double-engine government. Heartfelt congratulations to all the people of the state for forming a triple-engine government in the state!”
Earlier, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak thanked the people after counting trends for the civic polls put the BJP in a clear lead over rivals Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress in all 17 local bodies.
As per the trends at the time, the BJP was declared the winner in 4 civic bodies — Jhansi, Ayodhya, Saharanpur and Vrindavan-Mathura — while it is in the lead in 13 other civic bodies where the counting was still in progress.
Speaking to ANI as his party seemed poised to take the reins of all civic bodies that went to polls on May 4 and 11, Pathak said, “The BJP is on course to win all 17 local bodies. Our party has also performed very well in Nagar Nikay and Nagar Panchayat elections. I thank the people for reposing their electoral trust in us and assure them that the BJP will continue to take its welfare policies to the last man under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”
Polling was held for 17 municipal corporations across the state, including the recently formed Shahjahanpur municipal corporation. Bye-elections for the Suar and Chhanbey Assembly seats were held on May 10.
An estimated 53 per cent of the state’s 4.32 crore registered voters exercised their franchise in the local body polls, according to Election Commission.
Seventeen mayors and 1,401 corporators will be elected once the final outcomes are known. As many as 19 BJP corporators have been elected unopposed.
The ongoing counting process will decide the fates of 83,378 civic poll candidates, across parties, who are vying for 14,522 posts in 17 local bodies.
Polling in the first phase was held in 37 districts, 9 divisions and 10 municipal corporations. In 10 municipal corporations, polling was conducted in 830 wards, across 9,699 polling places and 2,658 polling stations.
Shafeek Ahmed Ansari, Apna Dal (Soneylal) candidate won the Suar Assembly bypoll.
Ansari defeated his closest rival, Anuradha Chauhan of the Samajwadi Party, by 8,724 votes.
Suar Assembly seat in Rampur district fell vacant on February 13 after a Moradabad court sentenced Abdullah Azam Khan, the son of SP stalwart Azam Khan, to two years in jail in a 15-year-old traffic violation case.