In Rajasthan civic polls, BJP edges out Congress; Independents win on CM turf - The Indian Express

The outcome of the Rajasthan urban local body (ULB) elections Monday saw the ruling BJP getting the better of the principal Opposition Congress, even as Independents and smaller parties registered a significant performance.

As per the poll results declared by the State Election Commission, the BJP won a clear majority in four of 10 Municipal Corporations – Jaipur, Udaipur, Bhilwara and Kota – while the Congress secured a win in the Bikaner Corporation.

In Jodhpur, Alwar, Ajmer and Pali Municipal Corporations, both the rivals fell short of the halfway mark and would need to rely on Independents for control. While the BJP emerged as the largest party in Alwar, the Congress was ahead in the Ajmer and Pali Corporations.

Independents got a majority in the Bharatpur Corporation – Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma’s home turf.

In the elections to 47 Municipal Councils, the BJP secured a clear majority in 12 bodies, while the Congress crossed the halfway mark in 6 and the AAP in one. Of the 252 Municipalities, the BJP clinched 70 as against the Congress’s 39, with Independents or smaller parties leading in the remaining Councils and Municipalities.

Overall, of 10,244 wards in 309 urban local bodies across the state, the BJP won 4,179, Congress 3,613, Independents 2,273, Rashtriya Loktantrik Party 63, AAP 42, CPI(M) 38; BSP 19 and Bharat Adivasi Party 8, with results not declared for 9 wards on account of glitches in the EVMs.

Hailing the BJP’s victory, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in an X post in Hindi: “Heartfelt gratitude to the public for securing a resounding victory for the BJP in the Rajasthan local body elections. This is proof of the victory of truth over the echo of falsehood.”

CM Sharma said the poll results were “a stamp of approval” on the BJP government’s work in the last two-and-a-half years in both urban and rural areas and that the people have adopted the “Viksit Bharat, Viksit Rajasthan” resolution of PM Modi. “The youth of Rajasthan have again reposed their faith in PM Modi. And the country’s youth is taking forward the PM’s vision,” he said.

The BJP, considered formidable in urban areas, has traditionally performed well in the civic polls in Rajasthan. However, Monday’s results are nowhere near the sweep that the BJP might have hoped for.

While the BJP bagged four Municipal Corporations, even in Jaipur (150 wards), its known stronghold, it just managed to cross the simple majority mark by winning 78 wards.

In another major Corporation Jodhpur – the home district of Congress stalwart and ex-chief minister Ashok Gehlot and BJP leader Gajendra Singh Shekhawat – both the parties were neck and neck at 44 seats each, while in Bikaner (80 wards), the Congress beat the BJP.

While the BJP may succeed in forming a Board in most of the remaining Corporations, with most Independent councillors expected to align with the ruling party, the results have exposed chinks in the BJP’s urban armour in various regions.

For CM Sharma, the point that Independents have performed better than the BJP in Bharatpur would be a cause of concern: Independents won 36 wards in the 65-member Bharatpur Corporation as against the BJP’s 20 and the Congress’s 7.

In Pali too, the home turf of BJP state president Madan Rathore, of 65 wards, the Congress bagged 29 against the BJP’s 21, while Independents won 15.

The BJP also suffered a loss in the 45-member Jhalawar Municipal Council, where it got just 13 against the Congress’s 29. This region is considered a stronghold of BJP heavyweight and ex-CM Vasundhara Raje, who is an MLA from Jhalrapatan in the district. The BJP, however, won the Jhalrapatan Municipality.

The results dealt a blow to the Congress which was projecting an upper hand in the ULB polls. Citing criticism of the Bhajan Lal Sharma government over the delay in holding these polls, the Congress had sought to create a narrative that it was due to the BJP’s “fear” of losing it.

While the Congress is said to have suffered due to its factionalism and weak organisation, state party president Govind Singh Dotasra blamed alleged misuse of delimitation by the BJP for its setback.

Also, many senior Congress leaders were not actively involved in the polls. Dotasra claimed that no senior party leader campaigned as these are local body polls and “as has been the trend in local body polls for 70 years, no senior leader, be it Vasundhara ji, or Ashok Gehlot, nor the state president campaigns, but the two of them (CM and BJP state president) were roaming in helicopters and cars.”

In contrast, senior BJP leaders, led by the CM, threw their weight behind the campaigning of their nominees across the state.

After praying at Deeg’s Shrinathji temple in Punchari ka Lautha on September 4, CM Sharma began his back-to-back political rallies, beginning with Bhilwara, then Udaipur, Bikaner, Ajmer, Bikaner, Jodhpur, Bharatpur, Alwar, Pali, Kota and finally in Jaipur.

In Jaipur’s old city, the CM also raised the issues of “love jihad”, religious conversion and alleged “exodus” in his campaign on the eve of voting.

Also active on ground were the BJP’s state ministers, MPs and all four Union Ministers from the state: Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Bhupender Yadav, and Bhagirath Choudhary.

On the other hand, the Congress could not hold any rally where its top leaders shared the stage. The party’s state in-charge Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa also remained absent from the campaigning.

The NEET paper leak exposed in Rajasthan earlier this year had put the BJP on the defensive. However, agitations by Karni Sena and other upper caste outfits demanding a rollback of UGC equity regulations, concerns over law and order, campaign for protection of Khejri tree, and protests by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) over “poor condition” of state schools seemed to have had limited impact in the ULB polls, indicating that the BJP’s organisational machinery managed to offset the impact of these stirs to some extent.

While the BJP emerged as the largest party in 148 of the state’s 309 urban local bodies, the increased presence of Independents in the fray could be attributed to party rebels, ward restructuring and reservation changes.

The delimitation exercise and the government’s merger of two Corporations into a single entity in Jaipur, Jodhpur and Kota also helped the BJP. Dotasra, citing figures, claimed that the Congress would have won an additional 1,000 wards if not for the BJP’s “dishonest” delimitation exercise.

Springing a surprise, the AAP won a majority in the Baran Municipal Council, while the CPI(M) is set to form a Board in Bikaner’s Nokha Municipality, winning 29 of the 45 wards against the BJP’s 13 and 3 Independents. In the absence of the Congress in Nokha, the CPI(M) capitalised on perceived dissatisfaction with the BJP which was seen in other ULBs in Bikaner too.

With a week to go before the respective Boards in the ULBs are constituted by the councillors, the major contenders have started corralling their winning candidates to resorts.

The Congress alleged misuse of government machinery, with Ashok Gehlot saying that, “Despite arbitrary delimitation, use of the entire government machinery, and the Chief Minister’s road shows, etc., the BJP, stunned by its defeat in the municipal elections, is now misusing the police to install its own Mayors. Having lost in Pali, Bikaner, Ajmer, and Bharatpur out of the 10 Corporations, the BJP now wants to intimidate and threaten Independents and Congress councillors through the police in Jodhpur and Alwar to win them over to its side.”

Hamza Khan is a seasoned Correspondent for The Indian Express... Read More