3 min readLucknowMay 7, 2021 12:14 AM IST
First published on: May 7, 2021 at 12:14 AM IST
After the ruling BJP and the Samajwadi Party (SP), the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has put forward a claim over the winning Independent candidates in the panchayat elections, even as it conceded that it suffered in reserved seats where it couldn’t field consensus candidates.
BSP chief Mayawati said her party did not fare well on reserved seats where local party units couldn’t unanimously agree on one candidate. Urging party units to learn their lessons from this, the former CM said she hopes they won’t make the same mistake in future.
While the indecision at local levels over candidates did not cost the BSP in general seats, it did affect its performance in reserved seats where multiple candidates were seen moving around in vehicles with party flags, she said, adding thats her party fared well wherever it could field consensus candidates.
“In districts, wherever the party could come to an agreement on the nominee, we did well. But in places where there was indecision and multiple candidates contested on our party flag, we fared poorly. Though it didn’t affect the results much in the general seats as Dalits went with the winning candidates, lack of unanimity over candidates in reserved seats helped our rivals,” the BSP chief said, adding, “Isse kafi kuch sabak sikhkar ab party ke log khud hi agey aisi galti nahi karenge, aisi unse BSP ko puri umeed hai (We hope the party members will have learnt their lessons and not make such mistakes in future).”
Admitting that mistakes were made, the BSP supremo said, “Jitne bhi nirdaliya umeedwar kamyab hue hain, unmein se jyadatar vastav mein BSP se hi jure hue log hain (Most of the victorious independent candidates are, in reality, associated with the BSP)”, adding that they decided to go it alone as the party couldn’t come to a consensus on one candidate, especially in reserved seats.
Earlier, the BJP, which saw less than 1,000 of over 3,000 officially-declared candidates winning as Zilla Panchayat ward members, and the SP, which has claimed that over 1,000 of its nominees have won, also staked a claim for the winning Independents.
The BJP, too, stressed that most of the victorious Independents were party rebels who entered the fray by themselves after losing out on official nomination, adding that they would continue to be with the party in the upcoming elections for 75 Zila Pachayat chairpersons and 826 Kshetra Panchayat heads.
Mayawati said that barring some big districts, the party performed better in others as she cited Agra, Mathura, Meerut, Bulandshahr, Ghaziabad, Saharanpur, Moradabad, Hapur, Shahjahanpur, Kanpur Dehat, Jalaun, Banda, Chintrakoot, Lakhimpur Khiri, Hardoi, Sultanpur, Balrampur, Prayagraj, Azamgarh, Mau, Mirzapur and Chandauli, among others where the party did well.
She also accused the BJP of “misusing government machinery” and other opposition parties of using “money power” to influence polling. “Both money power and government machinery have been misused in the panchayat elections.
While other opposition parties wielded money power to influence polling, the BSP fared well across the state and the encouraging results have infused people with fresh energy and enthusiasm,” Mayawati said.
BSP supremo Mayawati. (File) 
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