New Delhi, June 29
Ahead of the July-3 elections to various posts of zila (district) panchayat, including that of ‘adhyaksh’ (chairpersons), two main contenders BJP and the Samajwadi Party are busy trading charges.
While the SP has accused the BJP of “poaching its candidates” and using “dubious means” to “somehow project a win in panchayat elections it otherwise lost in May”, saffron leaders claim that “facing a certain defeat, the SP leadership is blaming BJP”. “Their leader (SP chief Akhilesh Yadav) has found a way out of owning defeat by blaming BJP. Those who have abused each democratic institution are talking of ethics and morality,” BJP state chief Swatantra Dev Singh said. Notably, Yadav, who claimed that SP candidates were stopped from filing nomination papers with “the help of local administration and police”, is also believed to have removed district presidents for “colluding” with BJP in “sabotaging” his party’s chances.
With Assembly elections just a few months away, getting the maximum number of key posts in these panchayats is important for both the BJP and the SP.
Given that these elections are not fought on party symbols but political affiliations, according to reports around 747 SP members were elected in the elections held in April followed by 690 of the BJP and 381 of the BSP. The BJP has been under severe criticism over the “mishandling of the Covid pandemic” and results of the panchayat results were seen as a reflection on the governance of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Though according to the BJP all Independent candidates were its members, therefore it won 981 seats.
Notably, soon after the results in May, senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy made an interesting extrapolation of panchayat results on the Assembly constituencies’ map, claiming that the SP had won 243 Assembly seats, the BJP 67, and others 47.
According to Swamy, 46 of 403 assembly seats in the State were “purely urban” and therefore panchayat polls covered 357 rural assembly seats.
Swamy said out of 357 seats, “SP wins 243 and BJP wins 67 and the rest 47. If I have it wrong, correct me”.
Meanwhile, political analyst Sudhir Panwar, who is also allied to the SP, said “people will take revenge of this usurping of people mandate by force”.
“The blatant and open use of administrative machinery and money by BJP in influencing/poaching of non-BJP members who won elections independently and with the support of the SP and the RLD exposed dictatorial attitude of BJP. Toppling elected state governments and now poaching of district panchayat is the testimony of decay in the value system of RSS-BJP which proclaimed herself as a party with principles and ideology,” Panwar added.
