December 9, 2020 2:20:37 am
Until the afternoon, the Congress was in the lead, but at night, the BJP was in the lead in both the samitis panchayat and the zila parishads. (Archive)
In what could end up as an embarrassment to the ruling Congress in Rajasthan, the party lagged behind in the elections for panchayat samiti and zila parishad, even as the count held through Tuesday night.
Against the 1,833 members of the BJP panchayat samiti, Congress had won 1,713, followed by independents with 420. Similarly, in zila parishad polls, Congress had won 201, compared to 265 for the BJP.
Until the afternoon Congress was in the lead, but in the evening, with the BJP leading the way in both panchayat samitis and zila parishads, BJP state chairman Satish Poonia said the party had opposed the tendency for the ruling party to win local elections in the state, describing the BJP’s performance as “historic” and a “triumph of the BJP’s rural development policies and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ideas for farmers” .
Poonia noted that “this victory comes at a time when the congressional government in Rajasthan is imposing Bharat Bandh against (the Center’s) policies for farmers.”
The Ashok Gehlot-led Congressional government hoped to maintain its hot streak in recent urban body elections (the party had formed boards of directors in four of the six municipal corporations, including Jaipur, Jodhpur and Kota, where elections were held in October). November this year.
For the faction-ridden Rajasthan BJP, the results have come as a much-needed boost.
In addition to fighting internal disputes, the party has also come under attack by its only ally in the state, the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP), for agricultural laws. While RLP MP Hanuman Beniwal is part of the NDA in the Center and his three MLAs support the BJP in the state, the RLP contested the panchayat samiti and zila parishad elections independently. By Tuesday night, RLP’s 56 panchayat samiti candidates had won out of 582 he submitted, plus 10 victories at zila parishads.
The CPI (M) won 16 panchayat samiti seats, mainly in Sikar, followed by the BSP in three. Two of the CPI (M) candidates also won zila parishad seats in Hanumangarh.
Some bigwigs in Congress had to suffer losses. In Sikar, the hometown of State Congress President Govind Singh Dotasra, Congress crossed the middle of the road alone in Laxmangarh panchayat samiti, among the 12 panchayat samitis who went to the polls in the district. Similarly, in Ajmer, the territory of Health Minister Raghu Sharma, the BJP won 123 electoral districts out of 213 in 11 panchayat samitis, compared with 72 in Congress as of Tuesday night.
The party also suffered losses in the electoral districts of Ministers Shale Mohammad, Ashok Chanda and Deputy Whip Chief Mahendra Chaudhary, among others.
In 21 districts, out of 33 in Rajasthan, 12,663 candidates competed for 4,371 panchayat samiti seats, while 1,778 candidates competed for 636 zila parishad seats. This is in addition to the 40 40 panchayat samiti and 13 members of zila parishad who were elected unopposed.
Elections for zila pramukh and panchayat samiti pradhan will be held on December 10, and elections for up-pramukh and up-pradhan will be held on December 11.
© The Indian Express (P) Ltd
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