Even as less than a week is left for the  first phase of the urban local bodies elections on May 4, the opposition parties – Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and Congress – are conspicuous by their absence in the poll campaign.  

Congress general secretary and UP in-charge Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has not visited the state for the last one year.

The campaign for the first phase of polling will end on May 2.

Contrary to a lacklustre opposition, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, including Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath , two deputy chief ministers, senior ministers, top leaders of the party, MLAs and MPs are conducting whirlwind tours of the state and leaving no stone unturned to reach out to the voters.

Besides hectic campaigning, the BJP is engaged in an intense process to pacify the rebel candidates who have filed nomination papers as independent candidates against the party’s official candidates.

The campaign of the SP, the main opposition party, is confined to social media. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has held a meeting of the party leaders at the party office and he is likely to campaign for the party’s Lucknow mayoral candidate Vandana Mishra on Metro train on May 1.

BSP chief Mayawati has already announced that she will not campaign in the urban local bodies polls. The Aam Aadmi Party, flexing its muscles in UP for the last several years, is also missing in action. The AAP campaign is limited to holding press conferences and leveling allegations against the Yogi Adityanath government.

The campaign for the urban local bodies polls has gained momentum with top leaders from the BJP holding rallies across the state. The ruling BJP and its leaders, including Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, talk about national issues like how India changed after 2014 with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the helm of affairs. They also discuss the law and order situation in the state and development, calling for a triple-engine government.

“Before 2014, India faced an identity crisis with rampant corruption and the younger population was hopeless. Our country’s respect was declining worldwide. Development was limited to the Five Year Plans. Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi established a new India which is now recognised for its talent and the world looks towards India in times of crisis,” said Yogi Adityanath, addressing a rally in Firozabad on Thursday. The chief minister is also focusing his campaign on the crackdown against organised mafia gangs and is targeting the SP for patronising criminals gangs while in office. The other BJP leaders, including the deputy chief ministers, are also highlighting how India changed under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Yogi Adityanath, in his rallies, also brought in the National Education Policy (NEP) and spoke on how the youth in India and Uttar Pradesh, who were trained and tech-savvy, could be provided with job opportunities. The other major focus area of the BJP campaign is the improvement in UP’s law and order situation under the Yogi dispensation, describing riots and curfew as things of the past.

“The terror of mafia and anti-social elements has exited Uttar Pradesh; smart and safe cities are developing,” Yogi Adityanath said in Mathura, adding that prior to 2017, activists of a political party used to roam around with guns to terrorise businessmen and common citizens, hinting at the SP.

The SP chief released a booklet of agendas for the poll, containing promises like an urban employment guarantee scheme on the lines of MGNREGA, improvement of sewage and drainage system in cities, opening of samajwadi canteens in cities and making gaushalas self-sufficient.

The third contender, BSP’s campaign is being led by individual candidates and local party units working mostly on their own. The party hopes that a Muslim-Dalit combination would give rich dividends in the urban centres as 11 Muslims have been given mayoral tickets by the party in 17 municipal corporations.

The elections across 760 urban local bodies will be held for 14,684 posts, including 17 mayoral seats and 1,420 corporators posts in two phases – May 4 and May 11–while counting of votes will be taken up on May 13.