Farmers Movement Archive

Samajwadi Party says will fiercely contest district panchayat chief elections

In a change of stance, the Samajwadi Party (SP) has now decided to give ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a tough fight in the zila panchayat president polls by fiercely contesting the elections and trying to win 50 of the 75 seats in the state.“We can easily win 25 Zila panchayat president posts as SP supported candidates won zila panchayat membership in a majority in these districts. But now, with a fast-changing political scenario in the state, uncertainty and speculations in the BJP, and possibilities of getting the support of non-BJP zila panchayat members, we are looking to win 50 seats,” said a senior SP leader.Earlier, the party had announced not to waste energy in countering BJP’s “horse-trading” to win zila panchayat headship elections and rather capitalise on putting up an even more impressive show in the UP assembly polls in 2022.The panchayat elections are not fought on party symbols, but rival parties issue support to their preferred candidates. The election for over 8.69 lakh posts, including the 3,050 Zila panchayat member seats, was held in April.The three-tier panchayat system elected public representatives from the village to the district level and was seen as a curtain-raiser to the 2022 state assembly polls.District panchayat headship elections may be announced soon.After the panchayat elections results came out in early May, the state election commission had decided to put the next level of the polls on the hold given the surge of Covid cases under the second wave of the pandemic.The district panchayat members, who were declared elected between May 2 and May 5, will vote in the indirect elections to choose respective district panchayat head in 75 districts.The declared candidates and aspirant for the district panchayat headship in Samajwadi Party and even other parties (largely BJP) have begun garnering support for victory.Samajwadi Party took the results of the poll as a boost for its preparations and aspirations for 2022.SP state president Naresh Uttam Patel said: “SP supported candidate won the maximum of zila panchayat member seats and we will contest the next level of the polls fiercely. Our fight in the elections is dual, with the ruling party as well as the administration machinery controlled by it.”SP president Akhilesh Yadav already alleged last month that the BJP was indulging in ‘horse-trading and intimidation’ to seize control of zila panchayats.To win the indirect elections, the SP is also betting on heavyweight candidates (in these cases, the candidates who are relatives of established politicians or political families).In Etawah, Akhilesh’s cousin Anshul Yadav is looking to win the post again. In Meerut, the SP has inducted a BSP supported zila panchayat member into the SP and is fielding her for the district panchayat headship. In Meerut, the SP is also sure of getting support from Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU). In Moradabad, Amreen, the sister of an SP MLA is contesting the polls, in Amroha, SP is fielding Sakina Begum, the wife of an SP MLA; In Bijnore SP has given ticket to a Sikh woman; in Kushinagar the daughter of an expelled BSP leader is now the SP candidate; in Jaunpur the SP is fielding Ruchi Yadav from a political family; Vijay Yadav, the son of SP MLA Durga Prasad Yadav is Azamgarh candidate.

Hindustan Times

11-06-2021

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