Opposition parties confident of dislodging BJP in UP after trouncing its candidates in panchayat polls

The opposition is in an upbeat mood after the Uttar Pradesh panchayat results dealt BJP a humiliating defeat in key districts.

There is a feeling among the opposition parties that panchayat results have proved that rural voters were against BJP, which shows that the party could be defeated in the 2022 Assembly polls.

Former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav claimed that his Samajwadi Party emerged as a front runner in the panchayat polls with the maximum number of seats. He further said that the victory of his party made it clear that farmers and youth voted for the candidates of his party, which leveraged its reach and influence in the villages.

Akhilesh Yadav pointed out that his party won in the Lok Sabha constituencies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi (Varanasi), Defence Minister Rajnath Singh (Lucknow), Prayagraj and in UP CM Yogi Adityanath pocket borough Gorakhpur. Samajwadi Party also won in eastern UP and central UP, he added.

The BJP’s loss is all the more embarrassing as the ruling party lost despite of misuse of power, management of votes and deployment of ministers, MPs and MLAs to campaign for party-supported candidates.

Exuding confidence, Akhilesh Yadav said that the results of panchayat polls made it clear that BJP would be wiped out in the next assembly polls.

Rashtriya Lok Dal, which contested in alliance with Samajwadi Party, is also happy with its performance, especially in western UP. Anil Dubey, national secretary of RLD, said that his party has as many as 77 members in Zila Panchayats. Dubey said his party got the benefit of farmers’ agitation and anti-people policies of the BJP government. He made it clear that his party would contest with the Samajwadi Party in the next assembly polls.

Congress spokesman Surendra Rajput said the list of winning candidates sent to the party high command had 270 names while the party was placed second in 511 seats and 711 in third place. Rajput said that the results had boosted the morale of Congress leaders, who are now confident that party would do well in next assembly polls.

The Congress spokesman said that the results established that the party had made inroads in rural parts of the state after many years due to the leadership of UPCC president Ajay Kumar Lallu.

Bahujan Samaj Party national president and former Chief Minister Mayawati appears to have been surprised by the overwhelming support her party got in the panchayat polls by winning more than 300 seats in Zila Panchayats.

The fact remains that the BSP was virtually in hibernation and Mayawati was seen only advising the Yogi government on various issues of governance and how to deal with the pandemic. She or her party never hit the street to launch any agitation to highlight people’s problems.

The BSP leader said that despite the use of money and muscle power and misuse of power by the BJP, her party did well in panchayats polls. She said the panchayat poll results had infused more energy and boosted the morale of party workers ahead of the assembly polls due next year.

(IPA Service)