ULB polls: BJP wins Ayodhya mayor election

Ayodhya: The ruling BJP retained the mayoral seat in the temple town of Ayodhya with party candidate Girish Pati Tripathi defeating his nearest rival Ashish of the Samajwadi Party by a margin of 35,638 votes.

Tripathi bagged 77,494 votes while All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) candidate Rehan secured the third position pocketing 15,107 votes. BSP candidate Ram Murti got 12,852 votes while Congress' Pramila Rajput bagged 4,084 votes, according to the State Election Commission (SEC).

During the campaigning for the urban local body polls, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had targeted the opposition Samajwadi Party, saying, "Any devotee of Ram emerging victorious in Ayodhya in this festival of democracy will create a good impression. But if the person who fired at the devotees of Ram gets votes, it (will) send a wrong message." In the 2017 urban local bodies polls, Ayodhya had elected its first mayor -- Rishikesh Upadhyay of the BJP.

The urban local body polls were held in two phases -- on May 4 and May 11 -- to elect 17 mayors, and 1,401 corporators. As many as 19 corporators were elected unopposed, the SEC said.