UP Civic polls 2017: Voters have reposed faith in BJP's ideologies, says Dy CM Dinesh Sharma

UP Deputy CM Dinesh Sharma said that voters in the state have again shown full faith in BJP and its ideology.

Lucknow: The ruling BJP on Friday forged ahead of its rivals, leading in 12 of the 16 mayoral seats in Uttar Pradesh where the civic polls were held in three phases.

Reacting to the trends emerging from the counting centres, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma said, ''People of the state have shown full faith in the BJP and its ideology and discarded the SP, the BSP and the Congress.''

Taking a swipe at the Samajwadi Party, VBSP and Congress, Sharma said, ''The SP, the BSP and the Congress contested the polls as each other's relatives. (SP chief) Akhilesh Yadav and (Congress vice president) Rahul Gandhi, who were together during assembly polls as 'UP ke ladke' have become like the tyre and tube of a 'cycle' and it has got punctured."

'Cycle' is the election symbol of the Samajwadi Party.

On opposition's charges of EVM tampering, Sharma said, "There was no shortcoming in EVMs, but it's in their minds and party. They worked for a particular caste and people have discarded them. We are working for all, irrespective of caste, creed and religion and that has been accepted by the people."

"I am going to Gujarat today with a positive message from UP," the deputy CM said. 

Reacting to the poll trends, BJP UP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey said, ''Congress and other parties were giving internal support to each other, We fought alone and we are now leading with a good number in early trends. This has given a further boos to our confidence level.”

The reactions came as it appeared that the ruling BJP was way ahead in at least 12 out of total 16 mayoral seats, results of which were being counted today.

The civic polls are being seen as a referendum on Yogi Adityanath government's performance in the past seven months.

The BJP had won 10 out of 12 mayoral seats in 2012.

These elections were also crucial for the Samajwadi Party (SP), the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Congress as well.

The BSP has been on the sidelines of politics in the state ever since it lost power to the Samajwadi Party in 2012 and lost two successive elections - 2014 General Elections and the 2017 state assembly elections.

However, the trends showed an upward swing in BSP's voter base in some areas including Aligarh. 

BSP chief Mayawati has made desperate attempts to stay relevant in the state, which she has ruled four times.