Updated: December 8, 2020 2:57:45 pm
Voting took place in four phases on November 23, 27, December 1 and 5 to elect a total of 636 members of zila parishad and 4,371 members of panchayat samiti. (Archive)
Rajasthan Panchayat 2020 Election Results: After emerging as the largest in recent local body polls, Congress will expect a repeat performance in the Rajasthan panchayat samiti and zila parishad elections despite the BJP putting up a tough fight. At 2:20 pm, the ruling Congress led the Panchayat Samiti elections by winning 527 seats to the BJP’s 472, followed by the independents with 140 seats. Similarly, in Zila Parishad’s polls, Congress had won ten seats, compared to three for the BJP.
Polls are crucial for both Congress and the BJP in the state. The ruling Ashok Gehlot government hopes to keep up its good show, which was last seen during the municipal corporation elections in October-November, where Congress went on to form boards in four of the six corporations where the elections were held, including Jaipur, Jodhpur and Kota. However, Rajasthan has had a tendency for the ruling party in the state to perform better in local body polls.
For the Rajasthan BJP, also clouded by factionalism, a good show in this election can help ease differences within state unity. Aside from internal problems, the party is also under attack by its only ally in the state, the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP), for agricultural laws. While the RLP’s sole MP, Hanuman Beniwal, is part of the NDA in the Center and his three MLAs in the state assembly support the BJP, the party is contesting the elections for Panchayat Samiti and Zila Parishad independently.
In 21 districts, out of a total of 33 in Rajasthan, a total of 12,663 candidates compete for 4,371 panchayat samiti positions. For Zila Parishad, a total of 1,778 candidates are competing for 636 positions.
A total of 2.41 million people were eligible to vote in these elections, including 86 of the third gender. Of these, 1.5 million rupees exercised their right in four phases between November 23 and December 5. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the maximum number of voters at a polling place was reduced from 1,100 to 900. A total of 33,611 polling places were created. .
Ajmer, Banswara, Barmer, Bhilwara, Bikaner, Bundi, Chittorgarh, Churu, Dungarpur, Hanumangarh, Jaisalmer, Jalore, Jhalawar, Jhunjhunu, Nagaur, Pali, Pratapgarh, Rajsamand, Sikar, Tonk and Udaurnas attended the urns.
The elections were held according to the COVID-19-related guidelines and arrangements were made to ensure social distancing and the wearing of masks at the voting centers, according to the Secretary of the State Election Commission, Shyam Rajpurohit.
The elections for Zila Pramukh / Panchayat Samiti Pradhan will take place on December 10 and the elections for Up Pramukh / Up Pradhan will take place on December 11.
On November 3, the The results of civic surveys in Rajasthan were declared. Of the total of 560 districts in the six corporations, two in Jaipur, Jodhpur and Kota, Congress won 261 against 242 for BJP, while 57 were won by others. As a result of this split, Congress won a clear majority in the newly formed civic bodies of Jodhpur North and Kota North, while the BJP won in Jaipur Greater and Jodhpur South. Later, with the help of independents, Congress formed boards in Jaipur Heritage and Kota South as well. He also won all four mayor positions in these municipal corporations.
The party now controls four of the six municipal corporations in Jaipur, Jodhpur and Kota, two for having obtained a clear majority, while in two it secured the support of independents to obtain a majority.
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