In a significant political development, Independent candidates have swept nearly two-thirds of urban wards in Rajasthan's Bharatpur and Deeg districts, the home turf of Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma, challenging the dominance of major parties in local body elections.
Key Points
- Independents won 262 out of 415 urban wards (63.1%) in Bharatpur and Deeg districts, Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma's home region.
- This performance significantly surpasses the BJP (31.6%) and Congress (4.6%) in these districts, despite the BJP holding five of seven Assembly seats.
- The Independent surge is concentrated in Bharatpur and Deeg, nearly three times the statewide average for Independents (22.2%).
- Both BJP and Congress are now actively seeking support from the winning Independent councillors to form civic boards for mayors and chairpersons.
- Local BJP leaders attribute the Independent wins to personal popularity and internal party rebellion over ticket distribution, while Congress claims Independents will support them.
Independents have swept nearly two-thirds of the urban wards across Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma's home turf of Bharatpur and neighbouring Deeg, a concentration significantly higher than in the adjoining eastern districts of the state.
The results assume political significance as the region is the chief minister's bastion, where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) holds five of its seven assembly seats, while Nagar MLA Jawahar Singh Bedham is the minister of state for home in Sharma's Cabinet.
Sharma hails from Bharatpur but represents the Sanganer Assembly constituency in Jaipur.
Independents have won 262 of the 415 wards across 13 urban local bodies in Bharatpur and Deeg districts, which together made up the erstwhile Bharatpur district, accounting for 63.1 percent of all wards in the two districts.
The counting was held on Monday.
The BJP won 131 wards, or 31.6 percent, while the Congress managed just 19, or 4.6 percent.
The BSP won two wards and the RLP one.
Independents emerged as the largest category in each of the 13 urban local bodies across Bharatpur and Deeg, showing that the trend was not confined to Bharatpur city, the chief minister's hometown.
Independent Surge Versus Assembly Representation
The results also present a contrast with the region's representation in the state Assembly.
The BJP holds five of the seven Assembly constituencies covering the two districts, while Bayana is represented by an Independent and Bharatpur by the RLD.
The Congress failed to open its account in the region. The performance of the Independent candidates in Bharatpur and Deeg stands out even when compared to the neighbouring districts, where too Independents registered a strong performance in several areas.
Independents won 42.4 percent of the urban wards in Karauli district, 42.2 percent in Khairthal-Tijara, 36.6 percent in Alwar and 36 percent in Kotputli-Behror.
Their share was lower in Dholpur at 26.1 percent and Dausa at 22.5 percent.
The results show that while strong Independent performances were visible in parts of eastern Rajasthan, their concentration in Bharatpur and Deeg was substantially higher than in the neighbouring districts.
The difference becomes even more distinct in the backdrop of the statewide picture.
Independents have won 2,273 of the 10,235 wards, accounting for a 22.2 percent share. Their 63.1 percent share in Bharatpur and Deeg is nearly three times that number.
Key Results From Bharatpur Municipal Corporation
The BJP, which emerged the statewide winner with 4,179 wards against Congress' 3,613, won 131 of the 415 wards in Bharatpur-Deeg, while the Congress' tally in the two districts stood at 19.
The most prominent result came from the 65-member Bharatpur Municipal Corporation, where Independents won 36 wards, outnumbering the BJP and the Congress put together.
The BJP won 20 wards and the Congress seven, while the BSP and RLP won one each. Chief Minister Sharma had campaigned for the BJP in his hometown Bharatpur ahead of the elections.
Widespread Independent Victories Across Districts
The Independent surge went far beyond the municipal corporation.
Across the seven urban local bodies in Bharatpur district, Independents won 152 of the 235 wards.
The BJP won 66, the Congress 15 and the BSP and RLP one each.
In Bayana municipality, Independents won 22 of the 35 wards, while they secured 22 of 25 in Bhusawar, 25 of 35 in Nadbai, 14 of 25 in Roopwas, 13 of 25 in Uchhain and 20 of 25 wards in Veir.
The pattern continued across the neighbouring Deeg district, where Independents won 110 of its 180 urban wards.
The BJP won 65, the Congress four and the BSP one.
The Independents won 24 of 40 wards in the Deeg Municipal Council, 23 of 35 in Brijnagar municipality, 21 of 35 in Kaman, 13 of 25 in Kumher, 13 of 20 in Pahari and 16 of 25 wards in Sikri.
Political Battle For Civic Board Control
The results have now set off a contest between the BJP and the Congress to secure the support of Independent councillors ahead of the elections for mayors and chairpersons.
Both parties claim that Independent winners include their rebels or supporters, expressing confidence about forming civic boards with their backing.
BJP's Bharatpur district president Shivani Dayma said the large number of Independent winners should be seen in the context of the local nature of municipal elections and the rebellion after ticket distribution.
"These are local elections and people often vote for candidates they know personally. A party can give ticket to only one candidate although there are several aspirants. Some contest as rebels and win. Most of the Independents who have won are from our side," Dayma told PTI.
Asked whether the scale of rebellion in the chief minister's hometown pointed to indiscipline in the BJP, Dayma said it was not like that.
"This is the chief minister's hometown and people here are happy with the development. But people often vote differently in local elections," she said, adding that the party is analysing the results.
Deeg-Kumher BJP district president Satish Bansal claimed that all the Independent winners in the district were BJP supporters.
"Sometimes circumstances are such that the party can give ticket to only one candidate, and the others become unhappy. The official candidate may have lost, but all the Independents are with us. The BJP will form the board in every urban local body in our district," Bansal said.
He also claimed that the Independent councillors are already attending a BJP training camp, but did not disclose its details.
Rajasthan Congress president Govind Singh Dotasra, on the other hand, claimed that the Independents are supporting the Congress and that his party would form civic boards with their support.
"The BJP only believes in horse-trading. Look at the situation in the chief minister's hometown -- fewer BJP candidates have won while Independents are in a majority. This is the BJP's biggest failure," Dotasra said.
"We will form the boards," he added.
Mayors and chairpersons in the urban bodies will be elected on September 21.
Elections for deputy mayors, deputy chairpersons and municipal vice-presidents will follow on September 22.
