Rajasthan civic polls: BJP wins 4,179 wards, secures majority in four municipal corporations

Jaipur: The BJP emerged as the largest party in Rajasthan's urban local body elections on Monday, winning 4,179 wards against the Congress' 3,613, while securing clear majorities in four of the state's 10 municipal corporations.

The Congress secured a majority in Bikaner Municipal Corporation and registered a significant victory in Jhalawar, considered a stronghold of former chief minister Vasundhara Raje.

Independents also emerged as a major force, winning 2,273 wards and delivering one of the biggest upsets in Bharatpur, the hometown of Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma. They won 36 of the 65 wards in the Bharatpur Municipal Corporation, compared with 20 for the BJP and seven for the Congress. The BSP and RLP won one ward each.

The Bharatpur result assumed political significance given its association with Sharma. As the results came in, the chief minister attributed the BJP's performance to people's faith in the party and the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Congress Rajasthan chief Govind Singh Dotasra, however, said the BJP's winning margins had narrowed and attributed his party's narrow losses in some areas to what he called "unfair" delimitation.

Dotasra had earlier, while counting was underway, accused the BJP of misusing government machinery and police to influence the outcome.

According to figures available on the State Election Commission website, results for 10,235 of the 10,244 wards where counting was being held had been declared by 8.30 pm.

Apart from the BJP's 4,179 and Congress' 3,613 wards, the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party won 63, AAP 42, CPI(M) 38, BSP 19 and Bharat Adivasi Party eight.

The BJP crossed the majority mark in Jaipur, Udaipur, Kota and Bhilwara municipal corporations, while the Congress secured a majority in Bikaner.

In Jaipur Municipal Corporation, the BJP won 78 of the 150 wards, while the Congress secured 53 and Independents 15. Results for four wards were yet to be declared on the SEC website.

The BJP won 53 of Udaipur's 80 wards, compared with 23 for the Congress, three for Independents and one for CPI(M).

In Bhilwara, the BJP won 45 of the 70 wards, while the Congress secured 10 and Independents 15.

The BJP also crossed the majority mark in Kota, winning 55 of the 100 wards in the municipal corporation.

In Bikaner, the Congress won 42 of the 80 wards, against 27 for the BJP. Independents won 10 and the RLP one.

Jodhpur produced a closely fought result, with the BJP and Congress winning 44 wards each in the 100-member municipal corporation. Independents won 10 and the RLP one, while one result was pending.

In Ajmer, the Congress emerged as the largest party with 37 of the 80 wards. The BJP won 32 and Independents 11, leaving no party with a clear majority.

The Congress also emerged as the largest party in Pali, the hometown of BJP state president Madan Rathore, winning 29 of the 65 wards. The BJP won 21 and Independents 15.

In Alwar, the BJP was the largest party with 28 of the 65 wards, followed by the Congress with 23, Independents with 13 and BSP with one.

The Congress also scored a notable victory in Jhalawar, a region regarded as a political stronghold of senior BJP leader Vasundhara Raje.

It won 29 of the 45 wards in Jhalawar Municipal Council, while the BJP secured 13, Independents two and AAP one.

The BJP, however, retained its dominance in Jhalrapatan municipality, where it won 22 of the 35 wards against eight for the Congress and five for AAP. Raje, a two-time chief minister, is the sitting BJP MLA from Jhalrapatan.

Sharma described the BJP's performance as a "historic victory."

"The BJP's public outreach model, its approach of listening to common people and resolving their grievances has been accepted by the people," Sharma said at the BJP state headquarters.

BJP state president Madan Rathore thanked voters and party workers and also described the results as a historic victory for the party.

Addressing a press conference, Dotasra said the BJP had traditionally enjoyed an advantage in urban local body polls, particularly when it was in power, but claimed Monday's results showed that the party had failed to retain that edge.

He said the BJP had enjoyed a vote-share lead of 8.12 percentage points over the Congress in the 2014-16 urban polls held under the Vasundhara Raje government, while the Congress had a 2.2 percentage point lead over the BJP in the 2019-21 polls during the Ashok Gehlot government.

"In this election, the BJP's lead over the Congress is less than one per cent," he said.

Dotasra also alleged that the Congress would have won around 1,500 more wards but for irregular and "unfair" delimitation of wards.

The elections were held for 309 urban local bodies, comprising 10 municipal corporations, 51 municipal councils and 248 municipalities.

More than 1.44 crore voters were eligible to vote in the two-phase polling held on September 9 and 11.

In the previous municipal election cycle, held between November 2019 and February 2021, Rajasthan had 196 urban local bodies comprising 7,500 wards.

After the elections for mayors and chairpersons, the Congress controlled 123 of the 196 bodies and the BJP 64, while Independents and other parties headed nine.

Mayors and chairpersons of the newly elected urban bodies will be elected on September 21, followed by deputy mayors, deputy chairpersons and municipal vice-presidents on September 22.