The ruling Congress party in Rajasthan secured 619 of the total 1,775 ward councillor posts in 50 municipal bodies, whose election results were announced on Sunday. The Independents came second, winning 596 wards, and the Bharatiya Janata Party secured third place with 548 wards, according to The Indian Express.
Among other winners are seven Bahujan Samaj Party leaders, two members each of the Communist Party of India, and the Communist Party of India (Marxist), and one Rashtriya Loktantrik Party candidate.
Voting for 1,775 wards in 50 municipal bodies in 12 districts was held on December 11, and 79.90% of the electorate had showed up to vote, according to Hindustan Times.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot lauded the Congress’ victory. “I thank all the citizens who showed their trust on Congress and because of which the party won,” he tweeted. “I thank all the Congress workers. Because of their hard work party has won.”
The party’s state unit chief Govind Singh Dotasra said the results showed that the BJP was growing “away” from the urban electorate. He added that of the total 50 municipal bodies – 43 Nagar Palika and seven Nagar Parishad – Congress won a majority in 17. “...as far as Independents are concerned, most of them are Congress-backed,” Dotasra said.
The Congress leader claimed that the party was set to form its boards in 41 municipal bodies, and the BJP would be able to preside over nine of them. “BJP’s blatant lies of sweeping local body polls have been exposed yet again,” Dotsara said, according to The Times of India. “In 17 bodies, we are forming our boards without any support, while in the remaining 24 bodies we will form boards with the support of Independents. Most of them were strategically fielded by us.”
BJP state President Satish Poonia, however, said the results had gone against the Congress as the BJP and the Independent leaders constituted more than 60% seats. He said that this meant the “mandate has gone against the Congress”.
Earlier this month, the Congress had suffered a setback in the Rajasthan rural body elections. In the Panchayat Samiti, which were conducted in 21 districts of Rajasthan, the BJP won 1,989 seats while the Congress secured 1,852. Of the 636 Zila Parishad (or district council) seats, the saffron party won 353 and the Congress bagged 252. The BJP touted its performance as a symbol of the trust that the poor, labourers and farmers have in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership.
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