Lucknow, Nov. 7: The BJP and the Congress have heavily eaten into the Samajwadi Party’s votes in Uttar Pradesh’s local body elections. Independents, many believed to be backed by the BSP, stole the show in several of the state’s smaller towns.

In the results declared today, the Samajwadi Party won only the Moradabad municipal corporation, but in losing the prestigious Allahabad, kept its previous tally unchanged at one seat. Chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav’s job doles didn’t appear to be working. Assembly elections in the state are expected early next year.

The tally in 10 of the 12 corporations was declared till tonight. The BJP had won seven of them and the Congress two. Till late tonight, counting was on at Kanpur and Jhansi.

The BJP resurrected its political fortunes despite bleak forecasts fuelled by intra-party bickering. Of the seven seats it won, Gorakhpur and Lucknow were additions.

The Congress, galvanised to a great extent by Rahul Gandhi’s new district committee members, got a new lease of life. The trophy was Allahabad, where its candidate Jitendra Singh won with an overwhelming majority from a city that was once the cradle of Congress politics — home to Jawaharlal Nehru.

The other prize was Bareilly, where its candidate for mayor Supriya Aron won with a margin of 66,000 votes over her BJP rival; the Samajwadi Party came third.

The victory in this western Uttar Pradesh seat brings auspicious signs for the Congress. The party has bagged a large share of the Muslim votes, though it has only one of the five MLAs from the district. Sonia Gandhi was at a rally here a few days before the poll.

In the smaller towns, the Samajwadi Party battled Independents, many from the BSP, which did not contest the civic polls because of fears that squabbles over ticket distribution now could hurt its chances in the Assembly elections.

Results in 155 of the 194 municipalities (bigger district towns) were declared. The Samajwadi Party won 52 seats, the BJP 28, the Congress 11 and Independents 64. The ruling party even lost ground to the BJP in Mainpuri, Mulayam’s bastion, and in Kannauj, from where his son Akhilesh has been elected MLA. A BSP-backed Independent romped home from this seat.

Voting patterns suggest that the sharing of Muslim votes with the Congress and Independents hurt Mulayam. A Samajwadi Party minister conceded the shift, but argued the trend was limited to urban areas.