Lucknow, Jul 7 (IANS): Amidst strong police presence and heavy rainfall, counting of votes for the municipal corporation and local bodies began in 71 districts of Uttar Pradesh Saturday.

According to state election officials, the results of most municipal corporations would be out by 4 p.m., while the local bodies results would be out by late evening.

In the initial trends, the results show the independents in most places ahead of other candidates.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates in Meerut and Moradabad, Aligarh, Jhansi have taken leads over their nearest rivals.

The corporator candidates of the BJP are reported to be in leads in different towns. Of the results of 18 wards declared in Moradabad, nine have gone in favour of the BJP.

In the initial rounds, reports coming from some cities suggest that BJP candidates have established leads in Bareilly (Gulshan Anand), Jhansi (Kiran Verma), Moradabad (Bina Agarawal), Aligarh (Shakuntala Bharati) and Meerut (Hairikant Ahluwalia).

The state election commission has issued prohibitory orders in different towns and cities and has banned victory processions by candidates.