Uttar Pradesh (U.P.) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary on Saturday said his party would win all the 17 municipal corporations in the state in the civic polls likely to be held by year-end.
The BJP currently has mayors in 14 of the 17 municipal corporations in the state and by setting a “clean sweep” target, the new U.P. BJP chief has engaged in tactical posturing aimed at confusing the opposition camp.
Meerut and Aligarh, both in west U.P., were the only corporations where the BJP didn’t have party mayors, Chaudhary said in Moradabad where he arrived along with chief minister Yogi Adityanath who said that he was proud of the fact that he had visited the BJP state chief’s home district.
“I will discharge the responsibility that the party has tasked me with and do so with full honesty,” the state BJP chief said. In 2022 U.P. polls, it was the Moradabad division where the BJP had, despite its overwhelming sweep, failed to make an impression with the Samajwadi Party-Rashtriya Lok Dal alliance bagging 17 of the 27 assembly seats.
In 2019 Lok Sabha polls too, of the 16 Lok Sabha seats that BJP lost, 7 were from west U.P. and the two mayoral seats that BJP lost in 2017 civic polls were also from west U.P.
{{/usCountry}}In 2019 Lok Sabha polls too, of the 16 Lok Sabha seats that BJP lost, 7 were from west U.P. and the two mayoral seats that BJP lost in 2017 civic polls were also from west U.P.
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Some BJP leaders said the party had already decided not to field relatives of ministers as candidates in civic polls. “From day one, the new U.P. BJP chief Bhupendra ji has cleared that cadres would be given priority and hence one would presume that more and more cadres might get tickets as candidates for key posts,” a BJP leader said.
On his part, Chaudhary said, “The BJP is the only party where cadres can aspire to reach the top. We aren’t a family-owned political outfit like others.”
Soon after taking over as the state chief, Chaudhary had said a special strategy for the 14 Lok Sabha seats in U.P. with non-BJP MPs would be chalked out. “We have great leadership, policies and pro-poor focus and there isn’t any reason why we shouldn’t win all the seats against an opposition that operates like a family owned and operated unit,” he added.