Civic poll results were announced for Rajasthan wards today.
NEW DELHI: The Rajasthan civic poll results have reinforced the dominance of the ruling BJP despite some setbacks, brought cheers to the AAP and the CPM, but has rung alarm bells for the Congress ahead of the 2028 assembly elections in the state.The BJP has lost some ground, but the Congress has not gained all of it.
Parties like AAP and the CPM have sprung surprise in some districts at the expense of the Congress.
The AAP has emerged the winner in Baran Nagar Parishad, while the CPM has gained majority in Nokha Nagar Palika.The ruling BJP led the Congress in the Rajasthan urban local body elections, winning over 4,179 wards against the opposition party's 3,613 as results for at least 10,200 wards were declared.
Independents put up a strong performance across the state, winning 2,273 wards, emerging as a potentially decisive force in several urban bodies.In a post on X, PM Modi said the results reflected support for the BJP’s policies of development and good governance under the “double-engine government”.“Heartfelt thanks to the people of Rajasthan for delivering a resounding victory to the BJP in the municipal elections.
This is a testament to the triumph of truth over the jhooth ki goonj (echo of lies),” PM Modi wrote.Shot in the arm for Bhajan Lal Sharma government The results are a shot in the arm for chief minister Bhajan Lal Sharma.
Sharma was picked up by the BJP to lead the Rajasthan government, ignoring the claims of heavyweights like Vasundhara Raje, after the party won the 2023 assembly elections against the Congress.
The BJP would be happy that despite the loss of some ground, overall it has dominated across the state.
The chief minister would especially be satisfied with the results as it comes in the backdrop of several controversies that had cropped up in the recent past.
The NEET paper leak expose, the Karni Sena protest over UGC regulations and the CJP campaign against the state of government schools were some of the issues that had put the state government on the backfoot.
But the results show that these issues may have had a limited impact on the party’s electoral prospects.Chief minister Bhajanlal Sharma thanked the voters for placing their trust in the party."Today, I express my sincere gratitude to the people of Rajasthan for the historic and magnificent victory achieved by the Bharatiya Janata Party in the state’s municipal body elections.
I also thank all the party workers who dedicated their time and effort to secure this victory.
I dedicate this triumph to them and to the people of Rajasthan, and offer them my congratulations and best wishes.
The people of Rajasthan have endorsed the historic work accomplished in the state over the past two and a half years under the leadership of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
They have embraced the Prime Minister’s vision of a ‘Viksit Bharat’ and a ‘Viksit Rajasthan,” he said.The CM also thanked the youth of Rajasthan for placing their trust in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and claimed that his government had, in the past two and a half years, fulfilled 78% of the pledges it made to the public.Mixed bag for Congress The Congress has also made significant gains in some key civic bodies, but the party should be worried about AAP and CPM entering the opposition space and making gains at its expense.
The victory of AAP in Baran and CPM in Nokha should be warning bells for the Congress which has been the dominant challenger and only alternative to the ruling BJP.Reacting to the verdict, state Congress president Govind Singh Dotasra said, "When local elections happen, most votes tend to go in favour of the ruling power.
This has been the trend for a long time.
But this time, the BJP has been completely wiped out.
In the Lok Sabha, more than 50% of their votes were there, and today they've dropped to within 34-35%.”Dostara accused the BJP of engaging in dishonest practices in the wards and delimitation.“In a major city like Jaipur, within the municipal corporation, Congress is ahead of the Bharatiya Janata Party in total votes by a margin of 10,000 votes.
So, if we assess just the Jaipur Municipal Corporation, the BJP is behind Congress by 60-65 thousand votes.
The vote percentage between Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party—whenever the BJP was in power, it used to be around 9% ahead.
Last time when we were in government, we were ahead by 2-2.5%.
The misgovernance they've delivered, the public has shown them the mirror...
In the 10 municipal corporations where the Chief Minister went, they managed a majority in only four, and that too due to dishonest delimitation; in the remaining 6, the majority is with Independents and Congress, not the Bharatiya Janata Party.
This shows that this government has completely failed.
Panchayat Raj elections are coming up, and in those, the Bharatiya Janata Party will face twice the debacle," the state Congress chief claimed.Dotasra also alleged that the Congress would have won around 1,500 more wards but for irregular and "unfair" delimitation of wards.He said the Congress won 542 wards reserved for Scheduled Castes, against 350 won by the BJP.In SC women-reserved wards, he said the Congress won 261 seats compared with 186 by the BJP, while in ST women-reserved wards, the Congress won 53 against the BJP's 39.Dotasra said the Congress won 37 of 80 wards in Ajmer, against 32 won by the BJP.Decisive Congress victory in Vasundhara Raje’s bastion The Congress registered a decisive victory in the Jhalawar Municipal Council, winning 18 of its 25 wards in a region considered a political stronghold of former Rajasthan chief minister and senior BJP leader Vasundhara Raje.
BJP national vice president Vasundhara Raje is the sitting BJP MLA from Jhalrapatan assembly constituency of Jhalawar district.
The district has a total of eight urban local bodies.The Congress also delivered a major blow to the BJP in the Pali Municipal Corporation, turning the party's traditional stronghold into a closely contested political battleground.Pali is the home district of Rajasthan BJP President Madan Rathore, who has served as the party's Pali district president several times and was a two-time MLA from Sumerpur.In a significant setback for the BJP, the Congress not only emerged as the single largest party in the 65-member Municipal Corporation but also defeated the BJP in Rathore's own ward.Boost for AAP The AAP would be very happy with its victory in Baran.
The party won 31 of the 60 wards, crossing the majority mark on its own.
The Congress was a distant second with 18 wards and the BJP nine, while Independents secured two seats.
The result will be a big boost for Arvind Kejriwal’s party given the fact that it has limited presence in the state.Poll Vote & Share your view Do you believe the recent civic poll results reflect a significant shift in voter sentiment?
Yes, definitelyNo, not really 3k+ users shared opinion today 5k+ users already voted today 3k+ users shared opinion today Share Opinion Good show by Independents The independents have emerged as the key players in the board formation in several districts.
There are several civic bodies where the BJP and the Congress will need the support of Independent councillors to ensure control.
Overall, it has been a strong show by the Independents.Join conversation Share your thoughts in the comments Be respectful · TOI community guidelines The 2028 challenge The 2028 assembly elections are still over two years away and these results will form the basis for course corrections for all the key stakeholders.
The BJP had won 115 seats with a vote share of 41.7%.
The Congress claims that BJP’s Lok Sabha vote share fell 15 percentage points.
This will be clear only after the final results and vote divisions are out.While the BJP will look to plug its weaknesses, the Congress will also go back to the drawing board and rework its strategy for the next state elections.
In the 2023 assembly elections, the Congress had won 70 seats with a vote share of 39.58%.
However, for now it has a bigger challenge at hand- to beat the BJP in wooing Independents where the party has emerged as the single largest party but could not gain majority.
