The Congress party has won the majority of seats in the by-elections to Zila Parishads, Panchayat Samitis and municipal wards in Rajasthan.
This comes after the grand old party gave a tough fight to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the recently-concluded Gujarat assembly polls.
Congress captured four Zila Parishad seats, 16 of the 27 seats in Panchayat Samitis and seven of the 13 municipal wards.
On the other hand, the ruling BJP secured only 10 Panchayat Samiti wards.
The civic by-election results are a big setback for the BJP as it lost two nagar palika wards in Baran district, which is a strong hold of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje’s son Dushyant Singh.
Close on the heels of an improved performance in Gujarat, the Congress has won all the four zila parishad seats as well as 16 of the 27 panchayat samiti seats and six nagar palika seats in Rajasthan, for which by-elections were held recently.
The ruling BJP had to remain content with 10 panchayat samiti seats although it won sevennagar palika wards in Rajasthan.
The BJP could not retain even a single of the four zila parishad seats that it held, according to the State Election Commission.
“The results of by-elections of local bodies has proved that the countdown for the BJP in Rajasthan has begun. Congress has expressed the feelings of the people in the last four years and they have trust in the party,” Congress state president Sachin Pilot said.
Jubilant over the party’s victory in the by-polls, Pradesh Congress president Sachin Pilot said the BJP’s days were “numbered” in Rajasthan and its countdown had begun. “The Congress gave a tough fight to BJP in Gujarat. The Rajasthan government has completely neglected the people in both rural and urban areas during the last four years,” he said.
Mr. Pilot said the by-poll results in the State, coming just after the Gujarat Assembly election results, were “very encouraging” for Congress, as the local bodies which went to polls were geographically situated all over Rajasthan. “The results have depicted people’s disenchantment with the BJP and a renewed faith in Congress,” he said, adding that his party would win in the upcoming by-elections to two Lok Sabha and one Assembly seats as well.
He predicted a similar result in the upcoming by-elections for the two parliamentary seats of Alwar and Ajmer as well as the Mandalgarh Assembly seat.
State BJP president Ashok Parnami, however, sought to water down the Congress euphoria. “Results have come out to be equal for both parties. These are small elections and are related to local candidates and equation,” he said.
Parnami said of 27 panchayat samiti seats, BJP lost three, but gained one in municipality. The Congress, he said, gained only one in Zila Parishad. “There are many seats such as Chhabra, Siwana, Lalsot, Manoharthana, Deedwana and Beawar, which were with Congress but where BJP candidates have won,” he added.
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