By Radhika Ramaseshan
The panchayat polls in Uttar Pradesh have left the Opposition parties with “secular” leanings with a bitter aftertaste. In retrospect, the Samajwadi Party might have celebrated the victory against the BJP in the local bodies’ elections prematurely. The SP’s claims of having trumped the ruling party were also somewhat exaggerated because, in reality, the data shows it was only just a bit ahead of the BJP. Therefore, to argue that the outcome was a referendum against the Adityanath government’s right to rule is a tad excessive.
The SP should have also anticipated the sequel, zila panchayat chairpersons’ polls, which didn’t bring them any good news. A week before the polls, the SP alleged that its candidates, in more than a dozen districts, were thwarted from filing their nominations. It sacked an equal number of its local presidents for “colluding” with the BJP to “sabotage” its prospects. The SP’s ally, the Rashtriya Lok Dal, had identical complaints of its nominees being “ensnared” by the BJP, a charge denied by some candidates who maintained they walked over to the BJP “voluntarily”.
This story was first appeared on timesofindia.indiatimes.com
