The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been consistently outperforming other parties in mayoral polls in Uttar Pradesh, a state where it holds most of the Lok Sabha, Vidhan Sabha, and mayoral seats of municipal corporations. However, the party faces a hurdle in the upcoming polls for 743 Nagar Palika Parishads and Nagar Panchayats out of a total of 760. In the previous local body elections in 2017, the BJP won just 35% of Nagar Palika Parishads (70 out of 199) and 23% of Nagar Panchayats (100 out of 544). In contrast, the party won 14 of 16 mayoral seats in municipal corporations.
The upcoming elections for Nagar Palika Parishads and Nagar Panchayats are due on May 4 and May 11, with counting on May 13. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has taken command of the party’s campaign and has been visiting districts to lay foundation stones or inaugurate urban development-related projects, highlighting the BJP government’s work in improving urban infrastructure in the past six years.
In the 2017 polls, the Samajwadi Party (SP) won 45 Nagar Palika Parishads, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) won 29, and the Congress won 9. In Nagar Panchayats, the SP won 83 and the BSP won 45, while the BJP won 90 and the Congress won 17. In the 2012 polls, the BJP won 42 out of 194 Nagar Palika Parishads, while Independents won the largest chunk of 130. The Congress won 15 and the Peace Party won 3. In Nagar Panchayats, the BJP won 36 out of 423, while the Congress won 21 and Independents won 352.
In the 2006 mayoral polls, the BJP won 8 out of 12 posts, while the Congress won 3 and the SP won 1. In Nagar Palika Parishads, the SP won 61 out of 191, while the BJP won 41, the Congress won 17, and the Rashtriya Lok Dal won 2. Independents won about 70.