Rajasthan Zila Parishad Polls 2020: Only half the state (21 districts) voted at the polls.
Jaipur:
Rajasthan’s ruling Congress, fresh from a revolt that nearly brought it down, is heading for a major blow in local polls, with the party losing in 21 of the state’s 33 districts with results still to come.
Only half the state (21 districts) voted in the Panchayat Samiti and Zila Parishad polls conducted for local bodies in districts and villages.
For Zila Parishads, or district level boards, the BJP leads in 13 out of 21. In Panchayat Samitis or block level village boards, the BJP has gained an advantage in 93 of the 222 seats where voting took place in four rounds in November. Congress leads in 81.
The BJP is already posting victory reactions. “We are grateful for the way rural voters, farmers and women have put their faith in us in the polls by Panchayati Raj and Zila Parishad of Rajasthan. This victory is a sign of faith that the people, the poor, farmers and workers have in Prime Minister Narendra Modi, “tweeted BJP President JP Nadda, in Hindi.
Local polls also indicate the emergence of new parties such as the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) of former BJP leader Hanuman Beniwal, who is a BJP ally. He is destined to be the kingmaker in his area of influence, Nagaur.
Another smaller player, the Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP), is winning in Dungarpur, beating the two giants, BJP and Congress.
Congress had performed well recently in polls of local urban bodies, electing its mayor in four of the six municipal corporations. But the erosion of Congressional support in rural areas, especially one of its tribal strongholds like Dungarpur, should be concerning for the party that came to power in the state in 2018.
Party veterans admit that the furious feud between Prime Minister Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot, who rebelled against him, is barely hidden and is undermining congressional dominance in Rajasthan.
Congress has also lost in regions dominated by its stalwarts, such as the new party chief Govind Singh Dotasara in Sikar, the state Health Minister Raghu Sharma in Ajmer (the BJP has won nine of the 11 blocks) and the Sports Minister of the state, Ashok Chandana, in whose area – Bundi District Hindoli – the BJP won 13 of 23 blocks.
The setback in rural Rajasthan is a sign that the party is falling back to its traditional foundations. The fight between Gehlot and Pilot is seen to have hit Congress hard on local factors like power rates.
Sachin Pilot was President of Congress for more than five years in Rajasthan. With his replacement, there is a clear power vacuum in the organizational structure of Congress and it has affected the party’s performance in rural polls, leaders say.
To maintain the balance of power in his cabinet, Prime Minister Gehlot has also failed to make political appointments, a sign that has not been well received by party cadres in Rajasthan.
The BJP, on the other hand, has made progress at a time when it urgently needed validation after sidelining former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje in its internal division.
Vasundhara Raje has congratulated the BJP candidates on their victory.
“Sincere congratulations to all the BJP candidates who worked hard and won the elections for Zila Parishad and Panchayati Samiti,” Raje said in a statement.
“A sincere thanks also to the people of the state, who have placed their faith in the BJP by denying the false claims of the congressional government,” he added.
Elections to elect 636 members of Zila Parishad and 4,371 members of Panchayat Samiti were held in four phases in 21 districts: Ajmer, Banswara, Barmer, Bhilwara, Bikaner, Bundi, Chittorgarh, Churu, Dungarpur, Hanumangarh, Jaisalmer, Jalore , Jhalawaru, Jhunjh, Nagaur, Pali, Pratapgarh, Rajsamand, Sikar, Tonk and Udaipur.
The vote took place on November 23 and 27 and December 1 and 5.
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