UDAIPUR / JAIPUR: In a surprising development, archrivals BJP and Congress came together to elect a candidate from the saffron party, Surya Ahari, as the zila pramukh of Dungarpur Thursday.
In the 27 zila parishad seating in Dungarpur, 13 independent candidates supported by the Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) had emerged victorious, while the BJP and Congress had won eight and six seats, respectively. Since BTP does not have a deputy, it cannot present candidates for local body polls and present them as independents.
Although there was much speculation that the BTP would succeed in constituting the board with the help of a single vote from Congress, things took a surprising turn on Thursday afternoon.
Things took a surprising turn on Thursday afternoon when local congressional leaders decided to join the BJP in electing Ahari as zila pramukh.
Ahari received 14 votes from the BJP Congress combine, while Parvati Devi, supported by BTP, got just 13 votes.
The ‘alliance’ came as a shock to congressional leaders who said they were not consulted or informed of such a move. However, the BJP said there was nothing “unusual” about it.
The ‘alliance’ is likely to pose a threat to the state government, as the BTP had supported the prime minister. Ashok Gehlot during the Rajya Sabha elections and stood by his side during the recent political crisis. Enraged by the move, BTP has terminated all ties with Congress.
Observers said the ‘alliance’ between archrivals was simply an attempt to keep BTP out of the political sphere. In recent times, BTP had managed to consolidate its position in southern Rajasthan and its growing popularity, especially among young people, had become a matter of concern for national party leaders here. So far, both national parties have had a voice in the tribal region and BTP’s entry into the electoral space has harmed them in all the polls held after the December 2018 state assembly elections.
In the rest of the district, BJP succeeded in having its candidates elected pradhans in Sagwara, Galiyakot, Aaspur and Simalwara panchayat samitis, while BTP bagged four: Sabla, Chikhli, Jhontri and Dogda samitis. Congress had to be satisfied with two pradhans at Dungarpur and Bichhiwada panchayat samitis.
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