Revision as of 06:36, 15 December 2020

2016: BJP leads

BJP wins civic polls in Raj, Dec 02 2016, The Times of India

BJP recorded its third consecutive victory in local body elections in the country in the backdrop of the Centre's demonetisation initiative when it edged past rival Congress in byelections held for panchayat and municipal seats in Rajasthan.Earlier this week, BJP won the civic elections in Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Of the 24 panchayat samiti seats for which bypolls were held in Rajasthan, the ruling BJP won 12 seats, the opposition Congress 10 and independents two. BJP also won two of the three zila parishad seats where polls were held. While BJP won in Banswara and Bhilwara zila parishads, Congress won in Jalore.

Of the 10 municipal council seats in nine districts where polls were held, BJP won five, Congress three and independents two. Polling was held on November 29. State Congress chief Sachin Pilot said, “Bypoll results generally go in favour of the ruling party . Still Congress' performance is satisfactory . Congress has won panchayat samiti seats in Atru (Baran), Srimadhopur (Sikar), Abu Road and Reodar (Sirohi) that were earlier with BJP.“

He added that in bypolls held in the last three years, Congress' voting percentage has improved. “Wherever we lost, the margin was very small. BJP has failed to deliver its promise, so its support is shrinking,“ he said.

2017

Congress ahead of BJP in bypolls for panchayats, municipal bodies

Bhanupratap Singh, Cong surges past BJP in Rajasthan local body polls, December 20, 2017: The Times of India

Congress has surged past BJP in the bypolls for panchayat and municipal bodies held last Sunday in Rajasthan, where assembly polls are due next year. Congress made a clean sweep in the zila parishad bypolls by winning all four wards in Banswara, Bhilwara, Jalore and Karauli districts.

In the bypolls for 27 panchayat samiti member seats across 19 districts, Congress pocketed 16, limiting BJP to 10. The remaining seat went to an Independent. The results of the bypolls, necessitated for several reasons including death, disqualification and resignation of elected members, were declared on Tuesday.

Even as BJP won one seat more than Congress in the municipal bypolls held in 12 districts, the two nagar palika seats that the opposition party won here were from Baran district, part of the Lok Sabha constituency of Dushyant Singh, son of CM Vasundhara Raje.

Before the assembly elections next year, Rajasthan will witness bypolls for two Lok Sabha seats — Ajmer and Alwar — and one assembly seat — Mandalgarh (Bhilwara). Bypolls for these seats have been necessitated due to deaths of three BJP members.

2018

March: Cong sweeps bypolls

March 8, 2018: The Times of India

Opposition Congress outdid the ruling BJP, bagging 20 of the 33 seats of panchayati raj institutions in Rajasthan where bypolls were held. Congress won four of six zilla seats, 12 out of 20 panchayat samiti seats and four of six civic body seats, officials said. The wins follow victories in bypolls to two parliamentary seats and an assembly seat.

Congress was able to double its numbers from 10 to 20, while BJP’s numbers were reduced to 11 from 18 seats. Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot said, “CM Raje accepted defeat in bypolls to parliamentary and assembly seats. The result of local bodies’ bypolls today indicates a farewell to BJP from the state.”

2020

Corporation elections

Shoeb Khan, November 4, 2020: The Times of India

Cong outshines BJP in Rajasthan civic body polls

Jaipur:

In the recently-held elections to six newly-formed corporations in Rajasthan, results for which were declared on Tuesday, the governing Congress has won two civic bodies and emerged as the single-largest party in a third, while BJP bagged two and tied with the former in the sixth.

Congress achieved majority in Jodhpur North and Kota North and became the single largest party in Jaipur Heritage. BJP, on the other hand, got majority in Jaipur Greater and Jodhpur South. Both the parties, however, faced a tie in Kota South with 36 seats each in a house of 80.

In a smart move, three city urban bodies, which used to be dominated by BJP, were split by chief minister Ashok Gehlot after coming to power.

“The results of Jaipur, Jodhpur and Kota Municipal Corporation elections are pleasant. Out of the total votes polled in the three corporations, the Congress party got 40.09% votes which is almost 2.5% more than that of BJP. Gratitude and thanks to voters and workers and congratulations to the winning candidates of the Congress Party,” tweeted Gehlot.

Panchayat and Zila Parishad

December 10, 2020: The Times of India

Big blow for Congress in Rajasthan as BJP sweeps local body polls

JAIPUR: In a major upset for Congress, BJP relegated the former to the second position in the Rajasthan local body elections by winning many more seats in both panchayat samitis and zila parishads than the governing party.

BJP won 1,989 seats in the panchayat samiti elections while Congress could win 1,852 seats. Of the total 222 panchayat samitis for which the polls were held, BJP won an absolute majority in 93 panchayat samitis while Congress could win only 81. In 43 panchayat samitis, Independents will call the shots while in five other samitis, smaller parties have won a majority. As per the results announced by the state election commission (SEC) on Wednesday, independents won 439 seats, RLP 60, CPM 26 and BSP five. The elections were held to 4,371 seats in 222 panchayat samitis and 636 seats in 21 zila parishads.

In zila parishad elections, BJP won 353 seats while Congress had to contend with 252. Independents bagged 18, RLP 10 and CPM two seats. The result of one zila parishad has not been announced yet.

BJP is in a majority in 13 zila parishads and is set to head two more in Nagaur and Barmer with the help of ally RLP. Congress won the remaining five zila parishads.

“This victory is the people’s stamp on BJP’s rural policies. It reflects support for PM Modi’s ideology, laws for farmers and the hard work of BJP workers,” BJP state president Satish Poonia said.

Congress state president Govind Singh Dotasra thanked the candidates for “widening the party’s base” in the panchayat polls. “These results give us motivation to work better in the future. Congress will do better in the upcoming elections by keeping a good synergy between power and organisation,” Dotasra tweeted.

The SEC had conducted elections in the 21 districts of Ajmer, Banswara, Barmer, Bhilwara, Bikaner, Bundi, Chittorgarh, Churu, Dungarpur, Hanumangarh, Jaisalmer, Jalore, Jhalawad, Jhunjhunu, Nagaur, Pali, Pratapgarh, Rajsamand, Sikar, Tonk and Udaipur. The polls were held in four phases on November 23 and 29, December 1 and 5.

Municipal elections

December 14, 2020: The Times of India

After a relatively poor showing in the panchayat and zila parishad polls, the ruling Congress roared back when results of elections to 50 municipal bodies were announced on Sunday. While Congress won 619 of the 1,775 wards in 12 districts, Independents came second winning 595 wards, while rivals BJP had to settle for third winning 549 wards.

Among other contenders, BSP won seven wards, CPM and CPI two each, and RLP one.

Reacting to the results, CM Ashok Gehlot tweeted, “My heartiest congratulations and best wishes to all the candidates who have won the municipality and municipal council elections. I express my gratitude to the people of the state who reposed confidence in the Congress party, leading to its victory…”

Rajasthan Congress president Govind Singh Dotasra said his party was set to form its boards in 41 municipal bodies, while BJP is expected to form the board in nine municipal bodies. “BJP’s blatant lies of sweeping local body polls have been exposed yet again. In the municipal body polls, our party has won 619 seats, while BJP managed to win only 549 seats. In 17 bodies, we are forming our boards without any support, while in the remaining 24 bodies, we will form boards with the support of Independents. Most of them were strategically fielded by us,” said Dotasra.

BJP state president Satish Poonia said the results have gone against Congress. “Both BJP and the Independents constitute for over 60% seats which means the mandate has gone against the Congress.,” he said.

Rules

2018: minimum education criteria abolished

Raj govt scraps minimum edu criteria for civic poll candidates, December 30, 2018: The Times of India

Rajasthan will once again have direct elections for mayors and chairpersons in urban municipal bodies. The previous Vasundhara Raje government had discontinued the practice introduced by the Ashok Gehlot government of 2008-2013.

The Congress government’s first cabinet meeting held on Saturday also approved to do away with the minimum education qualification required to contest panchayat and urban bodies’ elections. The education criteria was introduced by the previous Vasundhra Raje-led government, which stipulated that for contesting the zila parishad or panchayat samiti polls, a contestant must have a minimum qualification of secondary education (Class X). To contest the sarpanch elections, an aspirant from the general category must have passed Class VIII and a SC/ST aspirant must have passed Class V.

The previous BJP government’s other orders that were reversed by the cabinet on Saturday included reopening of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Law University formed by the Gehlot-government in 2013. The university was shut down by the previous BJP government citing “feasibility issues” on November 25, 2015. Similarly, the Haridev Joshi University of Journalism and Mass Communication, which was founded by the previous Gehlot-government but was shut down by the Raje-government in 2016, will also be reopened.