BJP leads Rajasthan civic count with more than 4,000 wards declared
By late afternoon the State Election Commission listed BJP 4,006, Congress 3,490 and Independents 2,205 of 10,244 wards. Udaipur's corporation went 53-23 to the BJP. Chairperson votes are on 21 September.
Jaipur2 min read
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The Bharatiya Janata Party held a statewide lead on Monday as counting finished across most of Rajasthan's 309 urban local bodies. The State Election Commission's site, as read at 16:00 by Mint, showed results for 10,244 wards: BJP 4,006, Congress 3,490, Independents 2,205, Rashtriya Loktantrik Party 59, CPI(M) 37, Aam Aadmi Party 37, Bahujan Samaj Party 19 and Bharat Adivasi Party 8.
Earlier in the day The Hindu, working from a smaller declared set, had the BJP on 3,587 wards and Congress on 3,050 of more than 8,700 counted. Both snapshots point the same way. The BJP is ahead on raw wards. The Congress is competitive in several corporations. Independents are a large third block, more than 2,000 wards, which will matter when boards elect chairpersons next week.
Polling ran in two phases on 9 and 11 September. Turnout was 73.56 percent, more than three points above the last civic round. The second phase alone was 70.01 percent across 147 bodies. There were 38,889 candidates. The BJP fielded 9,290, Congress 9,027, Independents 18,732, RLP 948, AAP 311, BSP 298, CPI(M) 185 and BAP 98. The election fills boards in 10 municipal corporations, 47 municipal councils and 252 municipalities.
Corporation results were mixed. In Udaipur the BJP won 53 of 80 wards, Congress 23, Independents 3 and CPI(M) 1. In Ajmer, of 80 wards, Congress won 37, BJP 32 and Independents 11. In Pali's 65-ward nigam, Congress won 29, BJP 21 and Independents 15. Congress also took Pali Municipal Corporation, a seat associated with BJP state president Madan Rathore. In Dholpur council Congress won 27 of 60. In Dausa it won 24 of 55, with the BJP on 17 and Independents on 14.
Jaipur was still being read ward by ward at midday. Congress candidate Rakesh Kumar Lata won Ward 21 by 127 votes over BJP's Ajay Singh Chauhan, a former chairman. BJP Jaipur City MP Manju Sharma said the early city numbers favoured her party and that she expected a board majority. Congress whip Rafeeq Khan said the party's strong wards were still being counted and predicted more than 60 Congress wins in the corporation. Those two claims cannot both be right once the last Jaipur ward is posted.
Chairpersons will be elected on 21 September and deputy chairpersons on 22 September. That is the vote that turns a ward tally into control of a council. Independents, at more than 2,200 wards, will be the negotiation in towns where neither national party has a majority. Bharatpur, Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma's hometown, is one of the corporations being watched for that reason.
Civic polls are not an assembly rehearsal, but they are the first large urban test of the Sharma government and of Congress organisation in the cities before the 2028 assembly election. A BJP lead of several hundred wards statewide is a working majority in many municipalities. The Congress wins in Ajmer, Pali and parts of Jaipur keep the map from being a clean sweep. The Independent pile is the variable that next week's chairperson ballots will resolve.
