Rajasthan: Panchayati Raj by-poll results leave BJP worried

Jaipur: Final results for by-elections of local municipal bodies and panchayat samitis came out on Tuesday. Of the 45 seats contested, Congress grabbed 25. Congress’s thumping victory in the rural areas of the state has particularly worried the saffron party.

Congress won 16 panchayat samiti seats out of a total 26. The results for urban bodies were almost a draw with BJP grabbing seven seats out of 14 and Congress wining six.

All the four seats of Zila Parishad were grabbed by Congress. Urban bodies are usually considered a forte of BJP, but Congress grabbing half the seats is clearly a cause of concern for the ruling party.

Congress made headway into Hadauti region, considered a BJP strong hold. Congress won both the municipal council seats in Baran. It won Khanpur panchayat samiti seat in Jhalawar after a gap of 24 years. Chief minister Vasundhara Raje’s son Dushyant Singh is the member of parliament from Baran-Jhalawar constituency. BJP’s defeat in this area has got the alarm bells ringing for the chief minister. When Jhalawar was a parliamentary constituency, chief minister had won the elections from there five times. The only relief for BJP in Jhalawar was the victory of Manoharthana seat where it defeated a Congress candidate. Congress won in Itava.

Final results are out.
Huge support for the cong both in rural and urban areas of Rajasthan in the local body by elections in 26 different districts:

Zila parishad seats :total 4
INC 4
BJP 0

Panchayat samiti :total 27
INC 16
BJP 10
Ind 1

Municipal wards :total 14
INC 7
BJP 7

— Sachin Pilot (@SachinPilot) December 19, 2017