Final phase of Uttar Pradesh zila panchayat polls this month

Lucknow, June 15: The State Election Commission has informed the Panchayati Raj Department that it is ready to conduct zila panchayat polls between June 15 and July 3.

Additional chief secretary (Panchayati Raj) Manoj Singh issued the notification to this effect on Monday on behalf of the governor.

Sources said the department would soon seek inputs from the Panchayati raj directorate before issuing a notification.

The Zila panchayat chairpersons for 75 districts will be elected by 3,050 members in various districts.

Jaunpur has maximum 83 wards followed by Sitapur and Lakhimpur Kheri which have 79 and 72 wards, respectively.

Gorakhpur, the home turf of chief minister Yogi Adityanath, has 68 wards.

A formal notification for zila panchayat polls would be issued on Tuesday after which observers will be appointed.

The elections for zila panchayat chairpersons are a major prestige issue for all political parties, especially the BJP which has decided to field its functionaries in majority of the zila panchayat wards. The ruling party faces a stiff challenge from the Samajwadi Party.

The BJP seeks to maximize its footprint in rural parts of the state in order to counter the smaller, regional parties, SP and BSP, ahead of the state assembly elections next year.

The issue is said to be at the core of hectic activities in the BJP camp during the recent visits by party's national general secretary (organization), B.L. Santhosh, and national vice-president, Radha Mohan Singh.

Both, SP and the BJP have opened back-channel negotiations with independent candidates who have won in a significant number of wards. Their support to candidates backed by various parties will hold significance in zila panchayat elections.