The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has emerged as the clear winner in Rajasthan’s municipal elections, securing 163 of the 309 urban local body seats for which results have been declared.
The Congress won 103 seats, while independent candidates bagged 43. Counting of votes began at 8 am across the state. The elections saw 38,889 candidates contesting for seats in 10 municipal corporations, 47 municipal councils and 252 municipalities. The results will pave the way for the formation of new governing boards in these urban local bodies.
Voting Held In Two Phases
Polling was conducted in two phases on September 9 and 11, with counting held simultaneously across Rajasthan. The overall voter turnout stood at 73.56%, marking an increase of more than three percentage points compared with the previous urban local body elections.
Candidates from the BJP, Congress and several other parties, along with a large number of independents, contested the polls.
Thousands Of Candidates In Fray
The BJP fielded 9,290 candidates, while the Congress contested with 9,027 candidates. Independents accounted for the largest number, with 18,732 candidates in the election.
Among other parties, the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) fielded 948 candidates, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) 311, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) 298, the CPI(M) 185 and the Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) 98.
Key Test For BJP And Congress
The civic election outcome is important for the BJP government led by Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma, which is seeking to consolidate its political standing in Rajasthan’s urban centres after coming to power in the 2023 Assembly elections.
For the Congress, the results provide an opportunity to assess whether the party has been able to retain its organisational strength at the grassroots level despite its Assembly poll defeat. The outcome could also provide an early indication of voter sentiment across Rajasthan’s urban areas and the relative strength of the BJP and Congress ahead of future political contests.
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