Ajmer: With the Ajmer Municipal Corporation (AMC) mayoral election scheduled for Monday, Congress and BJP Sunday worked on plans to bring their councillors directly to the polling centre amid a close contest for the 41 votes needed for a majority.Congress councillors returned from Bengaluru and will be kept at locations near Ajmer before being taken to the polling centre. BJP councillors, meanwhile, are in Jaipur, where they met state BJP president, and are expected to travel to Ajmer directly for voting Monday.Of the 80 wards in the corporation, Congress has 37 councillors, BJP 32 and independents 11, making the independents crucial to the outcome. Both parties have claimed they have the numbers.
Anamika Sharma
Congress sources said the party was also keeping an eye on possible cross-voting. A senior Congress member said BJP had a relatively cohesive group, with a large number of its councillors elected from Ajmer North, while Congress councillors belonged to different groups within the party.Senior Congress functionary Dharmendra Rathore had played a role in bringing the different factions together, the party member added.Two independent councillors from the Dargah area are also being closely watched, with sources claiming they are in touch with both parties.BJP has fielded Anamika Sharma, while Congress has nominated Kiran Gadwal for the mayor’s post.The district administration has made security arrangements outside the newly built AMC office, with police personnel deployed to manage the situation during the election.
