Lucknow, Mar 31 (IANS): With panchayat elections set to be held in Uttar Pradesh, various parties are preparing to enter the electoral fray. Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has prepared a new set of guideline for its office-bearers.

If the party's District Presidents or General Secretaries want to contest elections, they would have to give up their posts.

Uttar Pradesh BJP Chief Swatantra Dev Singh told IANS that the party's priority is to make maximum number of party workers as candidates in the upcoming panchayat elections.

The party's District Presidents and the General Secretaries must resign before contesting the election. The BJP had decided since the beginning that party workers would be its priority in this panchayat election.

In the BJP executive meeting held a few days ago, it was also decided that the party office bearers should field only the party workers by not giving tickets to the key party founctionaries of the region and the districts.

Swatantra Dev Singh said this condition would also be applicable to the conveners and co-conveners appointed for the preparation of the panchayat elections. Party MLAs and MPs have also been asked to give grassroot party workers a chance instead of their kins for contesting the election. This would create a team of competent party workers at the local level and also strengthen the organisation.

Earlier, BJP General Secretary (Organisation), Sunil Bansal, has said long ago that no party office bearer associated with the organisation should ask for a ticket in any election. People associated with the organisation would only work towards contesting of elections. Only party workers would be given tickets in the panchayat election. Along with this, they should start the work for strengthening the organisation for the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

Bansal had said any party worker must hold only one post. He said no office-bearer should ask for any election ticket nor would advocate it for a close relative. This would enable the party to allow more and more party workers to contest the elections.

The first phase of polling for gram panchayat polls would take place on April 15, the second phase on April 19, third phase on April 26 and fourth phase on April 29. The results would be declared on May 2.