Uttar Pradesh civic election results 2017: BJP heads for big win

Lucknow:  The BJP is leading in 12 of 16 municipal corporations in Uttar Pradesh, as counting of votes began this morning for crucial urban body elections, seen as Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's first big test.

The election will also serve as a litmus test for Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s nine-month government. Moreover, with elections underway in the state of Gujarat, the ruling BJP will be looking for a sweep to reiterate what it claims is an unwavering support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Chief Minister conducted a turbo-charged campaign with party's performance being watched closely after its massive sweep of the UP assembly polls in March this year.

Elections were held in 16 municipal corporations, 198 municipal councils and 438 nagar panchayats or notified area councils.

The elections was conducted in three phases on November 22, 26 and 29 and the voter turnout was around 52.4 per cent. Over 3.36 crore voters exercised their rights at 36,269 polling booths in the state to decide the fate of 79,113 candidates.

Here are the top developments:

•     The BJP's candidates for mayor are leading in state capital Lucknow, Ghaziabad, Chief Minister Adityanath's home town Gorakhpur and two other municipalities. Mayawati's BSP is leading in three.
•     Lucknow looks set to  get its first woman mayor in the BJP's Sanyukta Bhatia, who said this morning, "I don't consider anyone my competitor. I will be number one, no matter who is second or third."  
•     In 2012, the BJP had won 10 of 12 municipal corporations, which have this time been expanded to 16.
•     Of 194 municipal councils (198 this year), the BJP had only won 41, with a majority won by Independents backed by the Samajwadi Party and the BSP, which did not contest the elections directly. Of the 423 nagar panchayats, Independents had won 352 while the BJP got 36.
•     The BJP is also leading in Ayodhya-Faizabad. Chief Minister Adityanath began his campaign with a rally in Ayodhya, which, along with twin city Faizabad, has just been upgraded to a municipal corporation. The 45-year-old Chief Minister addressed 26 rallies, travelling to all 16 districts where civic elections were held.
•     Yogi Adityanath asked voters to support the BJP just the way they did in the 2014 national election and this year's assembly election. The party swept both, winning 73 of the state's 80 parliament seats three years ago and over 300 of 400 seats in the assembly elections.
•     The Chief Minister has to both thank his party and prove his worth with a big win. After the BJP's humongous win in March, party leaders unexpectedly picked the saffron-robed priest-politician over several front-runners for the top post.
•     A powerful local leader in eastern UP and the head priest of the Gorakhnath temple in his home town Gorakhpur, Yogi Adityanath served as a BJP lawmaker for 19 years and is leading the party in an election across the state for the first time ever.
•     This time, the Samajwadi Party and the BSP, crushed in the assembly elections, are contesting on their symbols, but in sharp contrast to Yogi Adityanath's high-powered campaign, neither Samajwadi chief Akhilesh Yadav, nor Mayawati campaigned.
•     The Samajwadi Party, which lost power in UP to the BJP in March, has accused the ruling party of "misusing government machinery to fix the elections" alleging that it tried to rig electronic voting machines. The BJP has called the allegations baseless.