Jaipur: BJP tightened its grip over Rajasthan’s municipal corporations, winning mayoral elections in six of seven corporations where results were declared Monday. The party’s winning streak included Bhilwara and Bharatpur, where it won unopposed, while securing victories in Ajmer, Alwar, Pali and Udaipur after voting. Congress was reduced to a single mayoral victory in Bikaner.Mayoral elections for Jaipur, Jodhpur and Kota will be held on Sept 25, as repolling delayed the electoral schedule in these three cities.Amid an atmosphere of high political drama and intrigue, results for Sikar’s Khatu Shyamji and Sriganganagar’s Srivijaynagar municipal bodies could not be declared till midnight.In Khatu Shyamji, 19 of the total 20 votes were cast, but Congress councillor Laxmi Devi was reported ‘missing’ with her husband alleging she had been kidnapped. Police said they were trying to locate the councillor.In Srivijaynagar, similarly, three councillors who were reported to have been kidnapped were eventually located by police after the Rajasthan High Court ordered they be found. All three eventually cast their votes.“Announcement of results for Srivijaynagar has been put on hold until the police’s action taken report on the matter is tabled Tuesday,” Sriganganagar SP Hari Shankar told TOI.Monday’s results were significant not only in terms of the BJP sweep, but also in the way it converted unfavourable ward-level arithmetic into eventual mayoral victories in Pali and Ajmer. In both these cities, where Congress had emerged as the largest party in urban local body poll results declared Sept 14, it failed to secure the mayor’s post.“People have endorsed the Modi-Bhajan Lal govt’s development and welfare work. The BJP’s victory across urban local bodies reflects the trust placed in the party, and our elected representatives will work to fulfil the commitments made in our manifesto,” BJP state president Madan Rathore said.In elections for chairpersons of 47 municipal councils, BJP won 31 and Congress 14, with one seat each going to Aam Aadmi Party and an independent candidate. Of 249 municipalities declared, BJP won 163, Congress 80, independents 4, and CPM and RLP one each.The Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) failed to register even a single victory.Monday’s outcome was a clear demonstration of how the role of independents and cross-voting can prove as decisive in determining eventual mayoral outcomes as ward-level verdicts.No wonder then that the final results came after a tense run-up to civic chief elections, marked by resort politics, competing claims over independents, Congress allegations of BJP pressure on councillors, the arrest of a sitting MLA (Gyaneshraj Bansal of Hanumangarh) and urgent court petitions restraining the arrest of opposition candidates by law-enforcement agencies.The most unexpected reversal in Monday’s results was evident in Pali, where Congress had 29 councillors, BJP 21 and independents 15 in the 65-member corporation. BJP’s Namita Bubakhiya managed to secure 33 votes, the exact number needed to win the contest.Independent candidate Rajbala Hingad secured 29 votes, while Congress’s Sumitra Jain received only three.Ajmer also saw a major overturning of the ward-level verdict in the final mayoral contest.Congress had won 37 of the 80 wards here, with BJP securing 32 and independents 11. With the majority mark at 41, the two largest parties both needed support from outside their ranks to make it past the post. In the final tally, BJP’s Anamika Sharma managed to win with 43 votes, while the Congress candidate fell behind at 37.In Udaipur, the result followed on the lines of councillor strength. BJP won 53 of 80 wards, with Congress at 23, independents at three and CPM at one. BJP’s numbers placed it beyond the majority mark of 41, and the party’s candidate Paras Singhvi predictably sailed through to victory.In Alwar, BJP had 28 councillors in the 65-member corporation against the Congress’s 23 and independents’ 13, with BSP holding on to a single seat. The party managed to cross the majority mark here with the support of independents, and Sumanlata Agarwal was elected mayor.In Bikaner, the only corporation Congress managed a mayoral victory in, it had won 42 of 80 wards, giving it a clear majority over the BJP, which won 27. Independents here had 10 seats, while RLP had one, and the Congress’s Anil Kalla was elected mayor.
