Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will campaign for BJP candidates contesting for 16 Nagar Nigams in the three-phase Urban local Bodies elections next month. By doing so, Yogi will be the first CM of the State to campaign for the elections.
The Chief Minister is presently busy campaigning in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat, where Assembly polls are imminent.
BJP leaders claimed on Saturday that the Chief Minister will address public meetings in all 16 Nagar Nigams, while his Cabinet colleagues and other leaders would campaign for candidates contesting in 198 Municipal Boards and 438 Nagar Panchayats across the State.
“Yogi Adityanath, State BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey, Deputy CMs Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma would campaign for the party candidates,” said a BJP leader.
In the 2012 UlB elections, the BJP had won 10 of the 12 seats of Mayor. However, it had won only 42 seats of Chairpersons in Municipal Boards and 36 in Nagar Panchayats.
Samajwadi Party, which was in power in 2012, did not contest the polls on its party symbol. The BSP had also did not contest the polls on its symbol. In 2017, all major parties have announced to contest the UlB poll on respective symbols.
Meanwhile, CM Yogi Adityanath would be on a two-day visit to poll-bound Himachal Pradesh where he would address six election meetings for party candidates. On Sunday, Yogi will address three election meetings in Dadahu, Arki (Solan) and Kangra. He would return to New Delhi for the night and the next day, address poll meetings at Nalagarh, Dhaliara (Kangra) and Parour before returning to lucknow.
The Urban local Bodies elections will be the first major test of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and the BJP’s popularity. The party came to power in the State after 15 years by bagging 325 seats out of the total 403 seats in the Assembly.
The UlB elections will also be a test for the ‘Modi factor’ as the BJP in the last over three years has credited its electoral victories across the country to Modi.