BJP sweeps UP local body polls, Samajwadi Party bites dust

Of the 75 seats at stake in the zila panchayat chairperson election, BJP won 67 while Samajwadi Party managed only five seats. Others, including Rashtriya Lok Dal, Jansatta Dal and an independent candidate took a seat each.

In 2016, Akhilesh Yadav's party had swept the polls winning 60 seats, in sharp contrast to 2021's performance.

Despite their small scale, the local body polls are always watched closely by analysts to gauge the performance of political parties in bigger elections, in this case the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls slated for next year.

After the poll results, Samajwadi Party activists took to streets alleging rigging in the local body election in Prayagraj. The police resorted to baton charging to control the protesters and maintain law and order situation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted about the win: "The glorious victory of BJP in the UP District Panchayat elections is the blessing given by the people for development, public service and rule of law. The credit for this goes to the policies of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and the tireless hard work of the party workers."

"The BJP has won 67 out of 75 district panchayat chairperson seats. We will win 2022 assembly elections also," UP BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh told news agency ANI.

Uttar Pradesh has some 3,000 Zilla Panchayat members. Earlier, 21 BJP candidates and one from Samajwadi Party were elected unopposed.

This election will elect chairpersons for Zilla Pancayats for 75 districts.

Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party did not fight the local body polls.