“Opposition did nothing for public when they were in power”: UP Minister Sanjay Nishad

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], June 3 (ANI): Ahead of the counting of votes for Lok Sabha polls, Uttar Pradesh Minister Sanjay Nishad on Monday said that opposition parties did nothing for the public in their respective tenure and people’s sentiment towards this will be reflected in the election results tomorrow.

Speaking to ANI, Sanjay Nishad said, “After exit polls, there will be exact polls tomorrow. The opposition didn’t do anything for the public for the last many years. Now that when we got a chance, things are being done in the interest of the public and this is the reason the public is with us.”

Sanjay Nishad also said that Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav has not yet understood the opinion of the public.

“NDA and BJP have done development and connected the public to the mainstream of development and this is the reason that the public’s opinion is with the NDA, which Akhilesh Yadav is unable to understand and is facing continuous defeat,” he said.

He also highlighted that INDIA bloc will be defeated as it has a weak organizational structure.

“Congress had Seva Dal, their workers used to remain present at the booth. But once they came into the power they started doing seva of foreign powers,” Nishad said.

After the final phase of the Lok Sabha elections concluded on Saturday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa said that counting for the Lok Sabha election will begin at 8 AM at 81 counting centres in 75 districts across the state on Tuesday.

“On 4 June, Lok Sabha election counting will take place and it will begin from 8 am. In the state of Uttar Pradesh, in 75 districts, there are 81 counting centres where the counting of votes will take place… Out of 80 Lok Sabha seats, the counting of votes for 35 seats will take place in one counting centre, the counting of votes for 37 seats will take place in 2 counting centres each, and the counting of seats of 8 Lok Sabha seats will be done in 3 centres each. Postal ballots will be counted at the headquarters of the returning officer of the parliamentary constituency,” Rinwa said.

In Uttar Pradesh, there was a direct contest between the ruling NDA and the opposition INDIA bloc. While the BJP contested 75 out of 80 seats in the state, it left the remaining five to its allies like the Rashtriya Lok Dal and the Apna Dal (Sonelal).

Uttar Pradesh which holds significant political clout in national politics is home to some of the most important constituencies. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was contesting from Varanasi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh from Lucknow and Union Minister Smriti Irani who defeated Rahul Gandhi in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Amethi.

Exit polls have predicted the return of BJP to power. Various exit polls have given BJP more than 64 seats in Uttar Pradesh.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the NDA won 64 seats, 62 bagged by the BJP and two by its ally Apna Dal. In 2014, the NDA won 73 seats, the BJP won 71 and the Apna Dal secured two seats.Uttar Pradesh voted in all the seven phases of the Lok Sabha polls, starting from April 19 and ending on Saturday. The counting of votes is scheduled on June 4.