Uttar Pradesh Gram Panchayat Elections Results: BJP faces defeat in Ayodhya, Varanasi, Mathura

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In a huge setback to the BJP, the Samajwadi Party has defeated the pro-Hindutva party in their bastions of Ayodhya, Varanasi and Mathura in the just-concluded Gram Panchayat Elections.

Varanasi
File photo

According to the results, the Samajwadi Party claimed to have won 22 out of 40 district-level seats in Ayodhya. As for the BJP, it could only win just eight seats here. Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party claimed to grab four seats.

Conceding defeat, the BJP’s district spokesperson told news agency PTI, “The results are disappointing. Despite having sitting BJP MLAs in all constituencies in Ayodhya district, we won only eight out of 40 zila panchayat seats.”

In Varanasi, the Lok Sabha constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP could win just 8 out of 40 Zila Panchayat seats, while the Samajwadi Party won 15.

In Mathura, according to Navbharat Times, the BJP was placed third with 8 seats, while the BSP and the Rashtriya Lok Dal bagged won 12 and 9 seats respectively.

The BJP had to face a defeat in the recently-concluded assembly polls in West Bengal where both PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah had addressed dozens of rallies amidst the raging pandemic. The saffron party could only win little over 70 seats in the 294-seat state assembly. The party also had face disappointment in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

The defeat for the BJP in the civic body polls assumes significance given that the assembly elections are due early next year. The state government has faced severe criticism for its inept handling of the coronavirus pandemic. The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday said that any death due to the non-availability of oxygen was ‘not less than genocide.’

The BJP had won more than 300 seats in the last assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh that were held immediately after the demonetisation disaster. It remains to be seen if the current pandemic would have any impact on the voters’ decision in the next assembly polls.

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