Haridwar: The ruling BJP has registered an impressive victory in the three-tier Haridwar district panchayat polls in Uttarakhand, winning 14 of the 44 zila panchayat board seats for the first time.
Independent candidates won 11 seats, the Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) won eight seats each, while the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) won two and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) one, according to the final results announced on Saturday.
Five of the triumphant Independent candidates and a nominee who won on a BSP ticket joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) immediately after the announcement of the results.
The BJP is going to make all the six block chiefs in the district. Most of the winning village heads are also from the saffron party.
Former Union minister Ramesh Pokhriyal “Nishank”, BJP national general secretary B L Santhosh and the party’s state unit chief Mahendra Bhatt described the victory as unprecedented.
“It is the people’s stamp of approval on the programmes and policies of the BJP,” Bhatt said. —PTI