Mayawati says 'BSP won't fight in panchayat prez polls'; adds victors will join us in 2022

In a major decision, BSP Supremo Mayawati on Monday, announced that her party will not take part in the upcoming elections for Zilla panchayat president's posts. Claiming that the elections were unfair, she added that once BSP is voted into power in 2022, all district presidents will join BSP. Mayawati has already announced that her party will fight polls alone in UP and Uttarakhand, while allying only with Akali Dal in Punjab. Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Gujarat, Manipur, Goa and Himachal Pradesh is set to go to polls in 2022.

Mayawati: Won't take part in Zilla president elections

Nominations for zila panchayat chairpersons filed

On Saturday, the  State Election Commission (SEC) stated that nomination papers for the election of zila panchayat chairpersons were filed in all 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh. According to reports received from different districts, candidates belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Samajwadi Party, Apna Dal (S) and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and independents filed their nomination papers. Candidates can withdraw their nominations till June 29 and polling will take place on July 3, from 11 am to 3 pm, following which counting of votes will be taken up.

Sources state that BJP is aiming to win the presidentship in 60 out of 75 district panchayats with the support of several independent and rebel candidates. On Wednesday, Samajwadi party chief Akhilesh Yadav accused the ruling BJP of using fear and greed to grab the posts of chairpersons of the zila and kshetra panchayats. He also alleged that the BJP is using the administration in every district to register fake cases against SP candidates and threatening them, urging Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel to intervene in this regard. In April, BJP managed to win 900 of the 3030 Zila panchayat wards it contested, while SP claims to have won 1000 seats, BSP 300 seats, Congress and AAP bagged 70 seats each.

UP Polls 2022

With BJP fighting under the leadership of incumbent CM Yogi Adityanath, several fronts have cropped up to challenge the ruling BJP. While Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj is eyeing an alliance with AIMIM, Azad Samaj Party, Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party; parties like AAP, Shiv Sena, and JDU have announced that they will be contesting for the UP polls. Samajwadi Party and BSP have decided to not ally and shut their doors to Congres, opting to ally with smaller parties if needed or go solo. Since then, Congress has aggressively campaigned under the leadership of Priyanka Gandhi in the state, eyeing its solo return. In 2017, SP-Congress won only 55 seats, while the BJP won 312 seats - ushering in Yogi Adityanath's maiden term.