BJP leads early Rajasthan civic count as 309 urban bodies declare wards
Counting opened at 8 a.m. for 10,245 councillor seats. Jaipur's partial tally had the BJP on 57 of 108 declared wards and Congress on 40. Chairperson votes are on 21 September.
Jaipur2 min read
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Vote counting for Rajasthan's urban local body elections began at 8 a.m. on Monday across 309 bodies: 10 municipal corporations, about 47 to 51 municipal councils, and more than 250 municipalities. The contest covers more than 10,000 councillor seats and 38,889 candidates. Turnout in the two phases on 9 and 11 September was 73.56 percent by the state election office figure carried in the Times of India, and 76.42 percent then 70.68 percent by the phase-wise figures in the Indian Express.
In Jaipur Municipal Corporation, which has 150 wards, results for 108 wards were out by mid-afternoon. The BJP had 57, Congress 40, and others 11, CNBC-TV18 reported. Counting was under way at Bhawani Niketan College. Congress leaders, including legislative party chief whip Rafeek Khan, asked the Jaipur district collector to check figures circulating on social media. BJP Jaipur City MP Manju Sharma said the early statewide pattern pointed to boards the BJP could run, including in Jaipur.
Ward-level margins were tight in places. Congress candidate Rakesh Kumar Lata won Jaipur Ward 21 by 127 votes against BJP former chairman Ajay Singh Chauhan. In Sanganer Ward 51, Congress candidate Manmohan Gurjar said he had won by about 1,700 to 1,800 votes.
Udaipur district's five municipalities split. Congress was in a position to form boards in Kanod (14 of 20), Bhinder (13 of 25) and Mavli (10 of 20, with one seat to others). The BJP had Fatehnagar (13 of 25) and Vallabhnagar (16 of 20). Those numbers come from local counting sheets reported by Dainik Bhaskar.
An early statewide snapshot in the Times of India live blog, taken when only a slice of wards had been declared, put the BJP on 268 seats, Congress on 178 and others on 115, with the BJP ahead inside corporations, councils and municipalities. Those figures will move through the evening. Independents were a large part of the field: 18,732 of them, against 9,290 BJP candidates and 9,027 Congress candidates.
Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma and former chief minister Ashok Gehlot both campaigned. More than 1.44 crore electors were on the rolls. The election of chairpersons is scheduled for 21 September, with deputy chairpersons on 22 September. Councillor results therefore do not by themselves settle who runs a board. Coalition arithmetic with independents will matter in corporations where neither national party crosses half the wards.
Rajasthan's next assembly election is due in 2028. Civic polls are a weak predictor, but they are the first large test of urban mood since Sharma took office. Congress has already framed the count as disputed in Jaipur. The BJP has framed it as a majority in the making. The useful number on Monday night will be simple: how many of the 10 corporations have a clear party majority, and how many need independents to pick a chair on 21 September.
Security around the Jaipur counting centre was heavy. That is routine for a corporation this size. What is not routine is the volume of unofficial tallies moving on messaging apps before the returning officer signs. Khan's complaint to the collector is about that gap. Until the signed forms are out, the 57-40 Jaipur split is a running score, not a gazette.
