Lucknow
Results for over 3.27 lakh panchayat posts out of the nearly 6 lakh for which polling took place across the state have been declared, officials said Monday.
In addition, over 3.19 lakh candidates were declared elected unopposed, before the counting at 826 centres began on Sunday. The ruling BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party have claimed major wins in the polls held in 4 phases last month, amid Covid surge.
The state election commission said apart from those who faced no contest, 2,32,612 village panchayats members, 38,317 village pradhans, 55,926 kshetra panchayat members and 181 zila panchayat members have so far been declared elected.
As counting of ballot papers continues, the results for over 2.23 lakh posts are yet to be out. Nearly 13 lakh candidates took part in the panchayat elections held on April 15, 19, 26 and 29.
Many were "nominated" or supported by the main political parties, but the panchayat elections were not held on party symbols. The BJP claimed 918 party candidates for zila panchayats have won and over 500 are leading. There are 3,050 district-level panchayat wards. In a statement, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said 70 party-supported candidates won zila panchayat members' posts and over 200 bagged village pradhan posts.
The claims by both parties could not be independently verified. The AAP said their winning zila panchayat candidates will be given a chance to contest next year's UP Assembly elections.
In the zila panchayat poll in Mainpuri, BJP candidate Sandhya Yadav, Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav’s niece, was defeated by SP’s Pramod Yadav.
In Ballia, Leader of Opposition in state Assembly and SP leader Ram Govind Choudhary’s son Ranjit Choudhary lost the polls for a district panchayat member’s seat. He came 3rd in ward 16.
The kin of several other political leaders too were defeated in this district.
BJP MLA Dhananjay Kanaujia’s mother Surya Kumari Devi lost the kshetra panchayat election.
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