UP local body polls: AAP, AIMIM make fresh entry into UP politics

LucknowThough the ruling BJP won all 17 mayoral seats and over 50 per cent corporator seats in Uttar Pradesh’s local body polls, the polls marked a fresh entry of AIMIM and AAP into state politics. While the two parties did not win any mayoral seats, 19 candidates of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) won as corporators, and eight Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidates also became corporators.

The AAP and the AIMIM have won three seats each for the post of municipal council chairman in the state. AIMIM’s 33 candidates were elected as members of the municipal council, while AAP’s 30 candidates also won for the same posts. In the election for the post of Nagar Panchayat president, six candidates of AAP and one of AIMIM have won.

In the election for the post of Nagar Panchayat member, 61 candidates of AAP won and 23 candidates of AIMIM tasted success.

According to the State Election Commission (SEC), the total seats won by AAP and AIMIM are 108 and 80 respectively.

The SEC said the total vote share of AAP and AIMIM (taking into account all posts) in the elections to urban local bodies stood at 1.63 per cent and 1.62 per cent, respectively.
Appreciating the performance of the AAP candidates, party leader Shekhar Dixit, who campaigned extensively in the state, told PTI, “The party has registered a significant victory for the post of president.”

Municipal Council in Rampur, where the party’s candidate Sana Khanum won by securing 43,121 votes. BJP’s Masarat Mujeeb was the runner-up with 32,173 votes and SP’s Fatma Zabi came third with 16,273 votes.

Dikshit said AAP has become a “viable alternative” to the BJP.

“People have started moving away from the Samajwadi Party and are seeing a viable alternative (to the BJP) in AAP. If anyone is doing the job of an opposition party in the country, it is Congress’s Rahul Gandhi or the AAP duo ” Arvind Kejriwal and Sanjay Singh.”

AIMIM national spokesperson Syed Asim Waqar said the party was compiling details of the winning candidates.

Asked about the possible reasons for the party’s performance in the ongoing elections, Waqar told PTI, “Voters are very intelligent. Every house

He said, “When the level of education improves, a change in the way of thinking is visible. Voters know who will stand up for them and their rights.”

Voting was also held to elect 198 chairpersons and 5,260 members of Municipal Councils, 542 chairpersons of Nagar Panchayats and 7,104 members of Nagar Panchayats in the two-phased urban local body elections.

Overall, 162 people’s representatives were elected unopposed, while 83,378 candidates were in the fray for 14,522 posts.

In the urban local body elections, 53 per cent voters exercised their franchise in the second phase on May 11 in 38 districts, while the first phase on May 4 saw 52 per cent polling in 37 districts of the state.

According to the SEC, 4.32 crore people were eligible to vote in the urban local body elections. In 2017, the polls were held in three phases and the total polling percentage was 53 per cent.