BJP declares first list of candidates for Zila Panchayat ward members in 20 districts

The party avoided giving preference to relatives of party leaders and focussed on selection of candidates who either has a stronghold in the local area or is active in the cadre.

“These are the official candidates of the BJP. The party will make every effort to ensure their victory with full support from the cadre,” said BJP vice-president and in charge of panchayat polls Vijay Bahadur Pathak.

The districts for which the candidates have been announced include 12 wards of Ghaziabad, 14 of Mahoba, 49 of Saharanpur, 17 of Chitrakoot, 34 of Rampur, 30 of Sant Kabir Nagar, 32 of Kanpur Nagar, 67 of Gorakhpur, 28
of Kannauj, 24 of Jhansi, 39 of Ayodhya, 52 of Rae Bareli, 51 of Shravasti, 24 of Agra, 24 of Hathras, 60 of Bareilly, 83 of Jaunpur, 26 of Bhadohi, 84 of Prayagraj and 71 of Hardoi.

Chitrakoot and Kannauj will go to polls in the second phase. While the nomination process in these two districts will start from April 5, polling will take place on April 19. Rest of the districts will vote during the first phase, polling for which will take place on April 15.

Unlike in the past, this time all the political parties are declaring their candidates for the three-tier panchayat polls, which are not contested on any party symbol. Earlier, to avoid indulging in grassroots politics, parties used to avoid declaring names of candidates and just extended their support.

However, this time all political parties, including Aam Admi Party, have declared their candidates for the panchayat polls. AIMIM has also declared that it intends to contest the panchayat polls in Uttar Pradesh along with the BJP, Congress, Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party.

While the three-tier polls will take place for the post of 75 Zila Panchayat chairmen, its members, Kshetra panchayats heads as well 59,000 Gram Pradhan posts in the state.

The BJP has decided to hold public meetings in support of its candidates in respective districts to send the clear message of support and has indicated that indiscipline during the polls will be dealt with strictly.