In the just-concluded zila panchayat polls in Ayodhya, BJP got only six seats out of total 40 seats while Samajwadi Party got 24. In Varanasi, which is represented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha, BJP got only eight out the 40 seats while Samajwadi Party 14 seats. In Mathura, Mayawati’s BSP got 12 seats followed by nine of BJP.

Significantly in Gorakhpur, hometown of chief minister Yogi Adityanath, BJP saved its skin by securing the number one position with 20 seats followed by 18 of Samajwadi Party and four by BSP.

Significantly, Samajwadi Party has emerged as the front runner in the zila panchayat polls with an impressive tally of 790 seats, which include Rashtriya Lok Dal while BJP got 699 and BSP got 354 and Congress 60. The number of Independents is much higher at 1,247.

The poor performance of BJP is attributed to the poor handling of Covid pandemic, the mood against farm laws and discontent against the performance of the state government.

Since these elections are considered to be a semi-final before the 2022 assembly polls, the mood of rural voters reflected through these election is very crucial for all political parties.

It would be worth mentioning that while the opposition parties were demoralised during last four years only BJP took these elections very seriously knocking every door for votes through its vast network of workers.

On the other hand, the results have proved to be a morale booster for the opposition parties, especially Samajwadi Party, which had made no efforts during last four years to hit the streets to launch any major agitation.

Significantly, Samajwadi Party retained its strength in its traditional areas like Etawah, Mainpuri, Firozabad, Azamgarh and Etah.

Even BS, which has been accused of being the B team of BJP all these years, managed to get 354 seats. Former chief Minister Mayawati is seen advising central and state governments on various issues during last four years.

Congress too is happy with its performance. UPCC president Ajay Kumar Laloo claimed that party won 270 seats and came second in 573 seats and third in 713 seats.

Being in power, BJP is now in touch with independents who have outnumbered all political parties to grab the post of zila panchayat presidents in maximum number of districts.

CPI national secretary Atul Anjaan said that the poor performance of BJP in Ayodhya, Varanasi and Mathura indicated that people were fed up with the politics of BJP on communal lines. He further said that rural voters of UP were also fed up with the farm laws of the state government. He claimed that the farmers agitation had the support of large numbers of farmers, which is reflected in the rejection of BJP.
(IPA Service)