Will this civic poll buck the trend? BJP looks to dominate urban centres; close fight for panchayat seats likely

While the saffron party has retained the mayor post in Lucknow for the last five times, the Samajwadi Party clinched five nagar panchayat chairman seats the last time

Lucknow A clear pattern has emerged over the last few civic polls. While the BJP takes a clear lead in urban centres, other parties put up a good fight on several of the nagar panchayat seats.

BJP usually takes a clear lead in urban centres. (HT Photo)

While the saffron party has retained the mayor post in Lucknow for the last five times, the Samajwadi Party clinched five nagar panchayat chairman seats the last time. In comparison, the BJP only won one nagar panchayat chairman seat while the other two were secured by Independents.

In 2017, elections were held in 12,007 wards for 653 local bodies of the state. In these polls, BJP won 14 out of 16 municipal corporations. While BSP did win at two places, it was a clean sweep for BJP in major cities. The results of 198 nagar palika parishads were also dominated by BJP as it won 67 seats, followed by BSP (28), CPM (1), Congress (9), Samajwadi Party (45), and Independents (43).

Similarly, among the 438 nagar panchayat seats, AAP won 2, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (1), All India Forward Block (1), Bahujan Samaj Party (45), BJP (100), Congress (17), Rashtriya Janata Dal (2), Rashtriya Lok Dal (3), Samajwadi Party (83), Independents (181), and Others (2).

Speaking on BJP’s prospects in the upcoming polls, former Lucknow mayor and former deputy chief minister, Dinesh Sharma, said, “People in urban areas are mostly educated and the caste influence is much lesser here compared to nagar panchayats. Wherever the educated class is dominant, BJP wins more seats. In Lucknow, for the last five terms starting with two terms of Dr SC Rai, my two terms, and one term of Sanyukta Bhatia, BJP has won comfortably. While in nagar panchayats, issues and factors are different. However, this time, the BJP is going to sweep in Nagar Panchayat polls too.”

Meanwhile, spokesperson of Samajwadi Party, Avadhesh Varma, said, “The real India lives in panchayat areas and here, the Samajwadi Party has shown its strength. The issues of panchayats are totally different from municipal corporations. In municipal corporations too, the Samajwadi Party has emerged as the main opposition party. This time, SP will surprise everyone by winning more seats of the mayor and nagar panchayat chairman. People have seen the poor governance of BJP in urban local bodies. Now, they have decided to bring a change.” He added, “SP has won 45 seats in palika parishad, 83 in nagar panchayats the last time. This time, our seats would definitely double.”