The Uttar Pradesh Panchayat Election Results, touted as the semi-final of a high-stakes assembly election next year, have set the alarm bell ringing with for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

 Though the BJP leadership was claiming that their candidates have won in over 60 per cent of the seats, but the result declared in the districts shows a different scenario.

Among the 3 tier panchayat polls the contest of the District Development Council (DDC) member was the crucial for the political parties in which BJP lagged in almost in majority of districts including PM’ s constituency of Varanasi, Ayodhya of Ram Temple, Krishna Janamsthan Mathura and in state capital Lucknow.

However in Gorakhpur, the native of chief minister Yogi Adityanath, the BJP was successful in winning majority of seats. BJP president Swantra Deo Singh has claimed that party candidates have won over 918 DDC seats and were leading in 456 other places of the total 3050 at stake.

However the ruling BJP would get an edge during the election of the DDC chairman, as several independents, who have won the polls, could support the BJP nominee.

 As no political party symbol were used in this poll it will also benefit the ruling party to rope in the winning candidates of the opposition.

According to reports in the state capital Lucknow, of the announced 25 seats, 10 were won by Samajwadi Party (SP), 4 by Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), 3 by BJP and Independent and others 8.

 In PM Narendra Modi’s, Varanasi district, seven DDC seats were won by BJP, 10 by SP, 4 by BSP, one of Congress, 2 by SBSP, 3 by Apna Dal (Sonelal) and 11 by Independents.

In Ayodhya, of the 40 seats, 22 were won by SP, 8 by BJP, 4 by BSP and 6 by others.

Of the 33 DDC seats announced in Mathura district, 12 were won by BSP, 9 by BJP, 8 by Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), one by SP and others 3.

In Auraiya district, of the 23 seats announced 5 were won by BJP, 10 by SP, 4 by BSP and 4 by others. While in Kanpur Dehat district of the 32 seats announced, BJP, 12 by SP, 7 by BSP and 9 by others.

In Shamli district of the 19 seats announced 4 were won by BJP, 2 by SP, 5 by RLD and 8 by others. In Hathras district, of the 24 seats declared 5 were won by BJP, 4 by SP, 2 by BSP, 3 by RLD and 10 by others.

A report from Baghpat said RLD won 8 seats of the 20 followed by 4 of BJP, 4 of SP, one of BSP and 3 others.

In Jalaun district, in the total 25 seats, 7 were won by BSP, 6 by BJP, 4 by SP, One by Congress and 7 by others.

In Etawah district, of the 24 seats announced so far, 18 were won by SP, 2 by BJP, one by BSP and 3 others while in Balrampur district 6 were won by BJP, 9 by SP, 6 by BSP, one by Congress and 2 by others.

In Mainpuri, 12 were won by SP, 8 by BJP one by Congress and 9 by Independents.

What it means for BJP

Considered mainly an urban party, the BJP had never directly entered panchayat polls and had rather avoided village polls. The setback comes after massive preparations including announcing the candidates list.

In January, the BJP set up high-level committees for each of its six regions in the state, with each committee including a minister, a senior leader as in-charge and local office bearers. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, BJP in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Radha Mohan Singh and national general secretary Arun Singh themselves held reviews of the preparations.

The party had announced that office-bearers willing to contest these polls would have to resign from their posts if elected. Many did so, hoping it would give them a better chance at upcoming Assembly elections.

Yet the results included losses in most seats in even Ayodhya and Varanasi. This comes in the backdrop of claims that the BJP has started construction of Ram Temple and also released huge funds for overall development of Ayodhya and Varanasi.

While the losses in the majority of the 3,050 zila parishad seats might not formally count as BJP defeats, it will have dented the party’s confidence ahead for Assembly polls. On the other hand, it will still look forward to the election of zila panchayat chairpersons, who enjoy huge administrative powers.

What it means for SP

Samajwadi Party leaders are talking about how they have defeated BJP candidates in large numbers, but are avoiding putting exact numbers to these victories. The party had not officially declared all candidates and left the decision to support candidates to local cadre; in many places there was more than one active party member willing to contest. While the SP has gained significantly, its next test would also be turn these numbers into victory for zila panchayat chairpersons.

What next

All parties will now focus on the election of 75 zila panchayat chairpersons posts and 826 block pramukhs. The BJP has announced that it would officially declare the list of candidates for these posts too. It is confident because most of the grassroots representatives traditionally go with the ruling party. Its next challenge would be to select right candidates. And the SP and the BSP will be expected to put up a tough fight.

The independent winners include a large number of rebels of the BJP itself, who were not given tickets but won. The BJP will do all it can to woo such candidates back into the party fold ensure victory. Zila panchayat chairpersons have powers to approve and sanction proposals of gram panchayats, impose taxes and even frame or sanction bylaws for any gram panchayat.