UP zilla panchayat chairperson polls: Nomination papers filed in all districts

Nomination papers for the election of zilla panchayat chairpersons were filed in all the districts of Uttar Pradesh on Saturday.

The State Election Commission (SEC) had fixed Saturday (June 26) as the date for filing of nomination papers for the election in all the 75 districts of the state.

Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav in a tweet alleged that SP nominees were "prevented" from filing nomination papers at many places.

According to reports received from different districts, candidates belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Samajwadi Party, Apna Dal (S) and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and independents filed their nomination papers.

According to the commission, in 17 of the total 75 districts only one nomination paper has been found valid.

The party also removed district unit president of 11 districts with immediate effect. These are the districts where its (Samajwadi Party) nominees could not file their nominations, SP sources said.

Read | Samajwadi Party ousts its 11 district chiefs

The SP president alleged, "The way in which the BJP government has prevented the Samajwadi Party candidates from filing nominations for the election of panchayat chairperson in Gorakhpur and elsewhere, it is a new administrative tactic of the defeated BJP to win the election. The people will not even give as many seats in the Assembly to the BJP as they will make panchayat chiefs."

Sources in the SEC office said a detailed report of the nominations is being collected from all the districts and the details will be known later.

State Election Commissioner Manoj Kumar said that candidates can withdraw their nominations till June 29 and polling will take place on July 3, from 11 am to 3 pm, following which counting of votes will be taken up.

According to a statement issued by the commission, senior officials have been made observers in all the districts to ensure peaceful and transparent polling and counting of the election to the post of zilla panchayat chiefs.

All the observers have been asked to reach the headquarters of the districts assigned to them by July 2 morning and hold a meeting with local officials for making necessary arrangements for the polling and counting, Kumar added.