The civic polls in Uttar Pradesh will take place in three phases on November 22, November 26 and November 29. The elections will be held for 16 nagar nigam (Municipal Corporation), 118 nagar palika parishad (Municipal Council) and 438 nagar panchayat bodies. The counting of votes will take place on December 1. The ruling BJP had performed exceedingly well in 2012 civic polls as the party had bagged 10 out of 12 mayoral posts. The 2017 civic polls are being seen as a litmus test for the Yogi Adityanath government as the ruling party will be under tremendous pressure to repeat its landslide victory in the recent Assembly elections.
Here is all you need to know about the 2017 civic body elections in Uttar Pradesh:
1. The elections will be held in three phases on November 22, November 26 and November 29.
2. The counting of votes will take place on December 1.
3. The elections will be held for 16 Municipal Corporations, 198 Municipal Councils and 438 Nagar Panchayats.
4. In 2012 civic polls, there were only 12 Municipal Corporations. Two more Corporations (Saharanpur and Firozabad) were added by Akhilesh Yadav government while the BJP govt led by Yogi Adityanath added another two (Faizabad and Mathura)
5. A total of 3.32 crore voters from all 75 districts will be eligible to cast their ballots at 36,269 polling booths and 11,389 polling stations.
6. No central para-military force will be used for conducting these polls. The state police will be solely responsibility for maintaining law and order during the civic polls.
7. In the first phase on November 22, voting will take place in 24 districts of the state. The first phase will cover 230 local bodies having a total of 4,095 wards. In this phase, over 1.09 crore voters will exercise their franchise in 11,683 polling booths spread over 3,731 polling centres.
8. In the second phase on November 26, voting will take place in 25 districts of the state. The second phase will cover 189 local bodies having 3,601 wards. In this phase, 1.29 crore voters will exercise their franchise in 13,776 polling booths.
9. In the third phase on November 29, voting will take place in 26 districts of the state. The third and last phase will cover 233 local bodies having 4,299 wards. In the final phase, over 94 lakh voters will exercise their franchise in 10,810 polling booths.
10. In 2012 civic polls, the BJP had swept civic body elections. The saffron party had won 10 out of 12 mayoral posts. The party emerged victorious in Ghaziabad, Lucknow, Kanpur, Meerut, Agra, Gorakhpur, Moradabad, Aligarh, Jhansi and Varanasi Municipal Corporations. The SP candidate won the Bareilly seat while a BSP supported candidate emerged victorious in Allahabad.
