Jaipur: With the Jaipur mayoral election just days away, BJP has moved more than 75 of its newly elected councillors from a hotel on Jaipur-Ajmer Road to another one in Pushkar, as the ruling party works to keep its camp together amid apprehensions of cross-voting.According to sources, the councillors were taken to a Pushkar hotel in two luxury buses Friday night. The move came after BJP sought the opinion of its councillors on the choice of mayoral candidate and as it finalised Sunil Kothari for the post. Congress has fielded Sunita Mahawar as its official candidate.A BJP member said four councillors who were brought from Pushkar to Jaipur for the nomination process were sent back to Pushkar after Kothari’s candidature was finalised.BJP had undertaken a detailed exercise before finalising its candidate. On Friday, councillors were asked to write down three names in order of preference. The party discussed the possibility of choosing a mayor from the Vaishya community and considered the views of MLAs, the preferences of councillors, seniority and the financial background of the aspirants.“Kothari eventually emerged as the preferred choice, while the names of outgoing deputy mayor Puneet Karnawat and Subhash Singhi were also discussed,” said a BJP source.Kothari’s selection also appears to have addressed a preference expressed by BJP’s six MLAs in Jaipur. The MLAs had favoured a mayor who was a councillor from outside their respective assembly constituencies, said sources.Kothari is a councillor from ward 112, which falls under Kishanpole assembly constituency represented by Congress MLA Amin Kagzi.BJP has 78 councillors in the 150-member Jaipur Municipal Corporation, Congress has 57, while 15 are independents. With 76 required for a majority, BJP has the numbers to elect its candidate without outside support.“Several BJP councillors were seen at a Pushkar hotel with their family members. BJP knows that voting will be in Congress’s favour,” said a Congress functionary.
