The Bharatiya Janata Party is set to gain big in the elections for Zila Panchayat to be held on July 3. While the BJP was relegated to the third position in the panchayat election in the state, it’s sure to get 21 out of 53 Zila Panchayat chief posts unopposed. With SP and BSP candidates withdrawing their nominations from Shahjahanpur, Bahraich and Pilibhit, the BJP’s victory is sure on 21 seats while the SP managed to keep Etawah. In Lucknow, the contest is between the SP and the BJP.
While the BJP claimed that those making false claims are leaving the ground, the opposition blamed the BJP for misuse of power. The SP alleged that the BJP did not allow its candidates to file nomination papers and is threatening those who managed to file it.
In Baghpat, RLD candidate Mamata withdrew her nominations and when the authorities made a formal announcement, it was claimed that the real Mamata is in Rajasthan and a fake person was produced to withdraw her nomination. Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) is contesting the Zila panchayat poll in alliance with the Samajwadi Party.
According to the State Election Commission, Zila Panchayat Chiefs have been elected unopposed from Saharanpur, Bahraich, Itawa, Chitrakoot, Agra, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahar, Amroha, Moradabad, Lalitpur Jhansi, Banda, Shravasti, Balrampur, Gonda, Gorakhpur, Mau, Varanasi, Pilibhit and Shahjahanpur.
The elections were supposed to be held for 75 posts of Zila Panchayat chairpersons/chiefs. However, with 22 candidates being elected unopposed, only 53 seats will go to the polls.
While the SP had got the most number of Zila panchayat members elected, the BJP was placed third in terms of numbers.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party MLC Man Singh Yadav and his aide Sanjay Yadav were detained with Rs 40 lakh cash on Monday by the police. They were later released on personal sureties.