According to a rough estimate in a Chairman’s election the candidate spends anything between Rs 7- 10 crore while in Block Pramukh’s election the expenditure is something between Rs 3-5 crore. In practical terms, in the District Panchayat election a candidate spends more than Lok Sabha election candidate while the Block Pramukh spends more than legislative assembly candidate.
The District Panchayat chairmen become strong contenders for Lok Sabha seats while Block Pramukhs lay a stronger pitch for nomination as candidates in the assembly elections. Not surprisingly, in a majority of the cases family members of politicians contest for these posts.
The BJP this year had announced that it would not give ticket to family members of the party’s office-bearers, lawmakers or ministers so that new leadership could emerge. But in fact, in at least a dozen cases, relatives of BJP ministers or former lawmakers have been elected as Chairmen of District Panchayats.
In Gorakhpur, minister Fateh Bahadur Singh’s wife has been elected as Chairman. BJP MP Devendra Bhole’s brother has been elected Chairman in Kanpur, former minister Kamla Rani’s daughter has been elected chairman in Kanpur Dehat, relative of BJP MP from Jalauan Anurag and former MP Dddan Singh have been elected as Chairmen.
BJP spokesman Sanjay Chaudhry claims that the party has tried to avoid giving ticket to the relatives of BJP leaders but there could be some exceptions. He however called this victory as historic because he claimed that for the first time the BJP had contested elections in villages by fielding its candidates. “This shows our reach,” he said.
The Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav has asked district presidents to submit reports explaining why the party lost elections of the Chairmen of District Panchayats in all but five districts.
