The Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Monday declared 10 mayoral candidates for Municipal Corporation. The BSP has nominated Sayeed Ahmed as its candidate from Prayagraj amid discussions about the name of Shaista, wife of mafia Atiq Ahmed. Apart from this, BSP has declared Subhash Chandra Manjhi as the candidate for the post of Mayor in the Varanasi Municipal Corporation elections.
The upcoming local body elections, or the nagar nikay chunav, in Uttar Pradesh are being considered a semi-final before the big poll battle in 2024. The elections will take place in two phases on May 4 and 11, with vote counting scheduled for May 13.
BSP has fielded Lata for Agra Municipal Corporation, Raja Mohtasim Ahmed for Mathura-Vrindavan Municipal Corporation, Rukhsana Begum for Firozabad Municipal Corporation, Bhagwan Das Phule for Jhansi Municipal Corporation, Khadija Masood from Saharanpur Municipal Corporation, Shaheen Bano from Lucknow Municipal Corporation. Varanasi Municipal Corporation Subhash Chandra Majhi, Sayeed Ahmed from Prayagraj Municipal Corporation, Mohammad Yameen from Moradabad Municipal Corporation and Naval Kishore Nathani from Gorakhpur Municipal Corporation have been declared as their candidates.
Voting Should Be Done by Using Ballot Papers: Mayawati
On April 10, BSP supremo Mayawati on Monday bated for the use of ballot papers in the mayoral polls and corporators of municipal corporations in Uttar Pradesh and said her party will challenge the political decision with full vigour.
"Voting for the municipal corporations should be conducted using ballot papers, and not through EVMs (electronic voting machines). The elections should be free and fair. This is our demand to the government and officials concerned," she told reporters.
Three months after the high court struck down the government's draft notification providing OBC reservation in the elections, the Uttar Pradesh State Election Commission announced the urban local body elections in two phases, on May 4 and May 11.
"The voting for the urban local body polls will be held on May 4 and 11. The counting of votes will take place on May 13," State Election Commissioner Manoj Kumar had said.
Mayawati also stated that her party has decided to run for office vigorously in order to ensure that every segment of society is taken care of by urban local governments.
In addition, Kumar had stated that the election would be held for 17 mayor's seats, 1,420 corporator's seats, 199 nagar palika parishad chairperson, 5,327 of nagar palika parishad member, 544 of nagar panchayat chairperson, and 7,178 members' seats in the nagar panchayat. The political parties, including the ruling BJP and the main opposition Samajwadi Party, will attempt to strengthen themselves prior to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections during the local body elections.
There has been an increment of 107 local bodies when contrasted with 2017 when the metropolitan body elections were last held. One municipal corporation, one municipal council, and 105 nagar panchayats make up the new urban bodies. When contrasted with 2017, this time around 96.33 lakh more citizens will exercise their voting rights.
The State Election Commission said that more than 4.32 million people will vote in civic elections this year, up from 3.35 million in 2017.