MP: 873 candidates declared elected as district panchayat members; BJP, Congress claim victory

By PTI

BHOPAL: As many as 873 candidates who were in the fray for district panchayat member polls in Madhya Pradesh were declared elected on Friday, a State Election Commission (SEC) official said.

A total of 875 district panchayat members across 52 districts were to be elected.

Among the 873 winners, a candidate was elected unopposed, while 872 others contested polls and emerged victorious, the official said.

Two results were yet to be announced, he said.

These elections were held on non-party basis, but the Congress and the BJP claimed most of the winners were their supporters.

Reacting to the poll outcome, Madhya Pradesh BJP general secretary Bhagwan Das Sabnani claimed that among the winners, 85 per cent were supporters of the saffron party and expressed his gratitude towards people for making them victorious.

The opposition Congress, too, claimed victory and said 386 contestants supported by the party have won elections held just a year ahead of the Assembly polls in the state.

Madhya Pradesh Congress general secretary Rajiv Singh, in a statement, also said 360 candidates supported by the BJP have won the polls.

Singh claimed on 129 seats, Independents have won and a majority of them are Congress leaning.

He said despite heavily losing village panchayat elections, the BJP is falsely claiming victory.

The Congress leader said to give a befitting reply to the saffron outfit, his party is putting poll results in public domain.

The Congress said even in Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s home district Sehore, the BJP has been defeated.

Singh alleged if the BJP had not misused the administrative machinery, the Congress-supported candidates could have won at least 450 seats.

Singh said on the issue of installing chairpersons in janpad panchayats, things are not clear as of now, but as per the party’s initial estimate, it is in a position to appoint chairpersons in at least in 125 places (janpad panchayats).

Singh said people in villages have expressed full faith in the leadership of state Congress president and former chief minister Kamal Nath and the party is going to do exceedingly well in elections to urban local bodies whose results will be announced on July 17 and 20.

However, state Congress spokesman JP Dhanopia said panchayat elections are not contested on party lines and therefore, the claim of the BJP about its victory in these polls was false.

He alleged the BJP committed irregularities in these elections and even officials were forced to change the results in favour of the ruling party in seats where the fight was very close.

The three-tier panchayat elections were held by using ballot papers, while for urban local body polls, electronic voting machines (EVM) were deployed.

Voting for these elections were held in three phases on June 25, July 1 and July 8.

Results of municipal corporation, municipal council and nagar parishad polls, held in two phases and contested on party lines, will be announced on July 17 (first phase) and July 20 (second phase), the official said.

The total number of district panchayat members (across 52 districts) was 875, while the count of janpad panchayat members (313 janpads), sarpanches and panches in the state stood at 6,771, 22,921 and 3,63,726, respectively.

In the three-tier panchayat polls, 80.31 per cent voters had exercised their right to franchise.

The term of 91 village panchayats in the state will end in November and the schedule of elections in these rural bodies will be issued separately later.

BHOPAL: As many as 873 candidates who were in the fray for district panchayat member polls in Madhya Pradesh were declared elected on Friday, a State Election Commission (SEC) official said.

A total of 875 district panchayat members across 52 districts were to be elected.

Among the 873 winners, a candidate was elected unopposed, while 872 others contested polls and emerged victorious, the official said.

Two results were yet to be announced, he said.

These elections were held on non-party basis, but the Congress and the BJP claimed most of the winners were their supporters.

Reacting to the poll outcome, Madhya Pradesh BJP general secretary Bhagwan Das Sabnani claimed that among the winners, 85 per cent were supporters of the saffron party and expressed his gratitude towards people for making them victorious.

The opposition Congress, too, claimed victory and said 386 contestants supported by the party have won elections held just a year ahead of the Assembly polls in the state.

Madhya Pradesh Congress general secretary Rajiv Singh, in a statement, also said 360 candidates supported by the BJP have won the polls.

Singh claimed on 129 seats, Independents have won and a majority of them are Congress leaning.

He said despite heavily losing village panchayat elections, the BJP is falsely claiming victory.

The Congress leader said to give a befitting reply to the saffron outfit, his party is putting poll results in public domain.

The Congress said even in Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s home district Sehore, the BJP has been defeated.

Singh alleged if the BJP had not misused the administrative machinery, the Congress-supported candidates could have won at least 450 seats.

Singh said on the issue of installing chairpersons in janpad panchayats, things are not clear as of now, but as per the party’s initial estimate, it is in a position to appoint chairpersons in at least in 125 places (janpad panchayats).

Singh said people in villages have expressed full faith in the leadership of state Congress president and former chief minister Kamal Nath and the party is going to do exceedingly well in elections to urban local bodies whose results will be announced on July 17 and 20.

However, state Congress spokesman JP Dhanopia said panchayat elections are not contested on party lines and therefore, the claim of the BJP about its victory in these polls was false.

He alleged the BJP committed irregularities in these elections and even officials were forced to change the results in favour of the ruling party in seats where the fight was very close.

The three-tier panchayat elections were held by using ballot papers, while for urban local body polls, electronic voting machines (EVM) were deployed.

Voting for these elections were held in three phases on June 25, July 1 and July 8.

Results of municipal corporation, municipal council and nagar parishad polls, held in two phases and contested on party lines, will be announced on July 17 (first phase) and July 20 (second phase), the official said.

The total number of district panchayat members (across 52 districts) was 875, while the count of janpad panchayat members (313 janpads), sarpanches and panches in the state stood at 6,771, 22,921 and 3,63,726, respectively.

In the three-tier panchayat polls, 80.31 per cent voters had exercised their right to franchise.

The term of 91 village panchayats in the state will end in November and the schedule of elections in these rural bodies will be issued separately later.

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