UP panchayat polls: Shocked SP seeks solace in ‘BJP loss’

State spokesperson SP Rajendra Choudhary, meanwhile, claimed that SP has won “maximum seats”. “Even if some relatives (of party leaders) lost, those who won are also party workers. We did not field any official candidate and everyone was free to contest the polls,” he said.

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SP’s state general secretary and minister Arvind Singh Gope also claimed that all party-supported candidates have won. “This is the biggest victory for us and BJP has been wiped out from the state, including in Varanasi,” he said. Gope, however, did not comment on ministers’ relatives losing the polls.

The SP ministers and legislators had fielded their candidates in the polls with a hope to win and stake claim to zila panchayat chairman and block pramukh posts.

Among those whose relatives lost include Reyaz Ahmed, who has been recently promoted as minister of state (MoS) with independent charge. Three of his relatives lost. “They contested from Puranpur constituency, which is not my area. My daughter contested from my constituency and won by over 10,000 votes,” Reyaz Ahmed told The Indian Express.

Other ministers whose relatives lost include Rampal Rajvanshi, Awadesh Prasad, Parasnath Yadav,  Shankhlal Manjhi, Vidyawati Rajbhar, Surendra Patel, Totaram Yadav, Ramkaran Arya, Rajeev Kumar Singh, Mehboob Ali, Manoj Pandey and S P Yadav.

In Rampur, sitting zila panchayat chairman Abdul Salam, who contested as an independent candidate and fielded another six, after being disowned by the ruling party, won all the seats. “SP did not support me. Now only time will tell whether I will go with minister Azam Khan or not,” Salam said.

SP also lost from Tamauli village in Azamgarh, which has been adopted by Mulayam Singh Yadav. BSP’s Shimla Devi won the Zafarpur seat which includes Tamauli village. SP MLC Sarojini Agarwal’s nephew Ajay Agarwal, who had recently joined the party, lost in Meerut. as did MLC Leelawati Kushwaha’s daughter Alka.

SP MLA Abhai Narain Patel, from Sagdi in Mulayam’s constituency Azamgarh, also suffered humiliation as his daughter-in-law lost the polls. MLA Deepnarain Singh’s brother Subhash lost from Garautha in Jhansi. MLA Aliganj, Etah, Rameshwar Yadav’s son Subodh also lost the polls as did Pramod Yadav,  husband of party MLA from Asmoli in Sambhal Pinki Yadav, lost the polls. MLA Udairaj Yadav’s father lost in Unnao.