The BJP is moving against rebels in Uttar Pradesh, by expelling 35 of its workers and leaders in Lucknow, including a former councillor for six years. The action comes just ahead of the UP Nagar Nikay Chunav (local body polls). The action comes just a day after it expelled 35 of its workers, including the regional vice president of the party's minority wing, in Varanasi, according to a Hindustan Times report.
Among the suspended in Lucknow were Suresh Awasthi, Dileep Shrivastav, Amit Maurya, Subhashini Maurya, and others. Last month, BJP's mayoral candidate in Lucknow Sushma Kharakwal filed her nomination at the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) headquarters. Kharakwal, who has been president of the party's women's wing in Awadh for over 30 years, is a state executive committee member.
The office of the mayor and deputy mayor has been vacant since January 20 this year.
The election campaign for the first phase of the civic polls is set to end on Tuesday. Election officials will depart for the polling stations on May 3. The voting will take place on May 4. These elections are being considered the semi-final to the Lok Sabha polls slated to be held next year.
According to an opinion poll conducted by C-Voter for ABP News, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is expected to win the civic body elections.
According to the C Voter survey, the ruling BJP is expected to secure 45 percent of the vote, while the Samajwadi Party (SP) is seen as posing a challenge to the ruling party with 31 percent of the vote share. Mayawati's BSP is expected to gain 8 per cent, Congress 7 per cent and others to outperform both parties by securing 9 per cent of the vote share.
The Uttar Pradesh Nagar Nikay Chunav will take place in two phases, on May 4 and May 11. The votes will be counted on May 13, and the results will be announced the same day. The political ground for the civic polls is already heated up in the state, with BSP, Congress, and BJP campaigning in full swing.
A total of 17 municipal corporations, 199 municipal councils, and 439 nagar panchayats will elect their new representatives. As many as 1,420 corporator seats, 5,327 nagar palika parishad member seats, 544 nagar panchayat chairperson seats, and 7,178 nagar panchayat member seats will be up for grabs. A total of 14,684 posts in the state will be contested.
The number of urban bodies has increased from 653 to 760 this time, according to the SEC. The new urban bodies consist of one municipal corporation, one municipal council and 105 nagar panchayats. There are also 96.33 lakh more voters this time around as compared to 2017, with more than 4.32 crore people expected to exercise their voting rights in the civic polls.