Sharma posts historic win

LUCKNOW: The Bharatiya Janata Partycandidate Dinesh Sharma retained the Lucknow mayoral seat, resurrecting his party's fortunes after a dismal show in the assembly elections when the party had lost six assembly seats in the city.In fact, the BJP also managed to send 40 corporators to the municipal house of 110 corporators, almost similar to its tally in 2006.Sharma defeated his nearest Congress rival Neeraj Bora by a margin of 1,71,824 votes. The Peace Party candidate Mohd Raees, who got 1,15,728 votes, finished third. Dinesh Sharma got 3,35,025 votes. "It's a people's verdict. They voted for me considering my work and conduct,'' said a beaming Sharma, who, till a few weeks back was reluctant to contest the municipal elections. Sharma, who is believed to be nursing an ambition to contest Lok Sabha elections, had to be persuaded by the saffron party to contest the elections.Sharma's massive victory, however, did not reflect in the corporators elections where the saffron party failed to add up to its 2006 tally. On the other hand, Congress's tally was reduced to 13 seats from 33 in 2006 till reports last came in, while the SP-supported candidates had won 28 seats. In fact, the emerging configuration of the municipal house was drawing a similarity with what existed six months back when BJP had 41 corportaors, Congress 14 and SP 28, while the rest were Independents, most of them aligned to the then ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). The original composition of the House was though different in November 2006 when the last municipal elections were held. Both the Congress and the Samajwadi Party had a better strength with 22 and 33 corporators. However, later many corporators defected to the BSP. While eight Congress corporators rallied behind Akhilesh Das who had walked into the BSP camp, six SP corporators too joined the BSP. This eventually increased the strength of Independents in the House while reducing the numbers of the three political parties.This time, SP did not contest municipal elections but nearly 30 candidates backed by it were on the verge of victory till reports last came. Almost all prominent SP corporators (this time contesting as Independents) were winning. The case of Ram Tirth ward was quite interesting where former SP corporator Atul Yadav aka Bantu Yadav defeated the powerful Nagendra Singh Chauhan. Chauhan, a Congress candidate, had to leave Raja Ram Mohan Roy ward after it was reserved for women and contested from Ram Tirth ward.Likewise, Yavar Hussain Reshu, an SP supported candidate, too won from his stronghold -- JC Bose ward -- for the fourth consecutive time.BJP posted a reasonable show. Dinesh Sharma led from the front after bagging the mayoral seat. Most of the BJP prominent corporators like Ram Gopal Jaiswal of Chandrabhanu Guptnagar ward, Ramesh Kapoor 'Baba' of Chowk Kaliji ward and Vinod Krishna Singhal of Yadunath Sanyal ward managed to retain their seats.It was a case of worry for the Congress which was on the verge of getting its tally reduced to almost half of what existed in 2006. There were though consolations like Suman Verma, daughter-in-law of veteran Congress corporator Ram Swaroop Verma, who won from Ramjilal Nagar ward. Besides the anti-incumbency factor at play, the rotational policy of seat reservation also affected the prospects of corporators. The reservation policy, in fact, shut the doors on at least 60 corporators in Lucknow, to re-contest the municipal elections.When asked if it the House would see the previous composition, Sharma said his priority would be the proper conduct of the House and getting along with the corporators. "That is what I was doing in my previous tenure. That is why people voted for me," he said.But, the task may not be easy for the otherwise BJP-dominated House. The strength of Independent candidates, especially those supported by the Samajwadi Party, may rise further since the state government also appoints 10 nominated corporators. In a way, the candidates with the backing of the SP could outnumber the BJP tally, even though the final tally was yet to be announced.It remains to be seen how the LMC executive committee, the highest decision making body, will shape up. Until its last session, the 13-member body had a dominating presence of BJP corporators, followed by the SP and Congress. This time, situation appears to be equally in favour of the Independents.