BJP leads in UP civic bodies’ polls

Lucknow, Nov. 7 (PTI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has surged ahead of other political parties in the mayoral elections for 12 municipal corporations, bagging five of the six results declared so far.

BJP candidates registered victories in Ghaziabad, Agra, Gorakhpur, Varanasi and Aligarh while Congress bagged the Bareilly mayor’s seat, State Election Commission officials said today.

BJP was leading in Lucknow, Kanpur and Meerut while Congress seemed to be in a strong position in Allahabad and Jhansi. The Samajwadi Party is leading by a narrow margin of 700 votes in Moradabad, they added.

Meanwhile, results for 312 out of 417 nagar panchayat seats have been declared so far. Among the winners, 121 were independent candidates, 84 were from Samajwadi Party, 53 from BJP and 22 were from Congress party, officials said.