As BJP Wins UP Local Body Polls, Deputy Chief Minister's Thank You Message

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak on Saturday thanked the people after counting trends for the civic polls put the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in a clear lead over rivals Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress in all 17 local bodies.

As per the latest trends, the BJP has already been declared the winner in 4 civic bodies -- Jhansi, Ayodhya, Saharanpur and Vrindavan-Mathura -- while it is in the lead in 13 other civic bodies where the counting is still in progress.

Speaking to ANI on Saturday, as his party seemed poised to take the reins of all civic bodies that went to polls in two phases -- May 4 and 11 -- Pathak said, "The BJP is on course to win all 17 local bodies. Our party has also performed very well in Nagar Nikay and Nagar Panchayat elections. I thank the people for reposing their electoral trust in us and assure them that the BJP will continue to take its welfare policies to the last man under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi."

He said the ruling party will continue its efforts to further strengthen the law and order in the state and stand with the people at all times.

"This victory is largely down to the leadership of PM Modi and the law and order situation in the state. I had said before that our ally Apna Dal will win both the Assembly bypolls (in Suar and Chhanbe Assembly constituencies) and so it turned out," he said.

On the victory of Apna Dal at Suar in Rampur district, which is considered a stronghold of senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan, Pathak said, "This happens when you drift from the people. The SP has lost its connection with the people and the same is reflected in the situation on the ground."

Also reacting to the BJP winning 4 civic bodies and leading in another 13, fellow Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said his party is at the front and centre of the state's "future".

"The trends in the Nagar Nikay elections show quite clearly that the SP, BSP and the Congress are in decline. BJP is the present as well as the future," Maurya tweeted in Hindi.

Polling was held for 17 municipal corporations across the state, including the recently formed Shahjahanpur municipal corporation. Bye-elections for the Suar and Chhanbey Assembly seats were held on May 10.

An estimated 53 per cent of the state's 4.32 crore registered voters exercised their franchise in the local body polls, according to Election Commission.

Seventeen mayors and 1,401 corporators will be elected once the final outcomes are known. As many as 19 BJP corporators have been elected unopposed.

The ongoing counting process will decide the fates of 83,378 civic poll candidates, across parties, who are vying for 14,522 posts in 17 local bodies.

Polling in the first phase was held in 37 districts, 9 divisions and 10 municipal corporations. In 10 municipal corporations, polling was conducted in 830 wards, across 9,699 polling places and 2,658 polling stations.

Shafeek Ahmed Ansari, Apna Dal (Soneylal) candidate won the Suar Assembly bypoll.

Ansari defeated his closest rival, Anuradha Chauhan of the Samajwadi Party, by 8,724 votes.

Suar Assembly seat in Rampur district fell vacant on February 13 after a Moradabad court sentenced Abdullah Azam Khan, the son of SP stalwart Azam Khan, to two years in jail in a 15-year-old traffic violation case.