Lucknow, July 7 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) got a fresh lease of life in Uttar Pradesh as it is set to win 10 mayoral seats in the 13 municipal corporation polls, counting for which began Saturday.
According to officials, the BJP won the mayoral seat in Moradabad, Meerut, Jhansi, Gorakhpur and Aligarh and was leading in six other places.
An independent candidate, I.S. Tomar, won the Bareilly mayor’s post while Abhilasha Gupta, another independent, has been elected as the Allahabad Mayor. She is wife of former BSP minister Nand Kumar Gupta ‘Nandi’.
Surya Pratap Shahi, a senior BJP leader and former state president, thanked the people of Uttar Pradesh for the mandate.
The BJP was also heading for a majority in the Moradabad Municipal Corporation winning most seats for which results were announced.
In Lucknow, incumbent mayor Dinesh Sharma has taken a huge lead over his nearest rival. The BJP was also leading in the seats for corporators in Lucknow.
The BJP held eight mayoral seats in the previous elections.
The counting for the 13 municipal corporations and local bodies started earlier in the day amidst strong police presence.
The ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) had not contested the polls on party symbols but allowed, at certain places, its workers to contest.
The Congress, which contested, has not done well in the polls, which reflect the mood of the urban electorate.
Political analysts say that price rise, LPG price hike and corruption dashed the hopes of a Congress revival.
