In a setback to the ruling Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party registered victory in the panchayat body elections held in 21 districts of Rajasthan by winning 1,989 Panchayat Samiti and 353 Zila Parishad seats in the results announced on Wednesday. The Congress was limited to 1,852 and 252 seats in the two panchayat bodies, respectively.
The BJP was quick to attribute its victory to the “farmers’ support” in the rural areas in the midst of protests against the Centre’s agriculture sector laws. BJP State president Satish Poonia said the villagers had given a mandate in support of the party’s rural policies and reposed faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's policies for welfare of the poor and farmers.
The independent candidates, who gained 439 Panchayat Samiti and 18 Zila Parishad seats, are likely to play an important role in the formation of boards in several panhchayat bodies.
The Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP), an ally of the BJP which fought elections independently, also made its presence felt by bagging 60 Panchayat Samiti and 10 Zila Parishad seats.
The Bahujan Samaj Party got 5 Panchayat Samiti seats, while the CPI(M) captured 26 Panchayat Samiti and 2 Zila Parishad seats.
While the results for all the 4,371 Panchayat Samiti members’ seats were announced, the result for Jhalawar Zila Parishad was put on hold because of repolling ordered at a booth.
The BJP candidates were in the majority in 13 of the 21 Zila Parishads and the party may form one more district board with the help of RLP. The Congress won the majority of seats at 5 Zila Parishads.
The Congress suffered defeat in the home constituencies of some of its senior leaders, including Pradesh Congress Committee president Govind Singh Dotasra, former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot and Ministers Raghu Sharma, Udailal Anjana, Sukhram Bishnoi and Ashok Chandna.
Mr. Dotasra said the Congress’ base had expanded in the panchayat polls and affirmed that the party would perform better in the upcoming elections by keeping “good synergy” between the government and the organisation.
‘BJP confused voters’
Meanwhile, in his reaction, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said the results were not as per the expectations of the Congress. “While the State government was busy with the COVID-19 management during the last nine months, the BJP leaders had confused the voters by their ‘misleading propaganda’ during their tours to the rural areas,” he alleged.
