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The BJP emerged as the largest party, winning 197 civic bodies in Rajasthan out of the 301 for which the election results were declared on Monday, followed by the Congress with 94.
According to the results declared so far, the tally for 301 of the 309 chairpersons and mayors of urban local bodies in Rajasthan stands at 197 for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), 94 for the Congress, seven Independents, one each for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP), while the Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) has not won any seat. Out of the 309 urban local bodies in the state, elections in 32 bodies were uncontested. The mayors of the Bharatpur and Bhilwara Municipal Corporations, six Municipal Council chairpersons and 24 Municipal Board chairpersons had already been elected unopposed. Meanwhile, elections for four bodies, including the Jaipur, Jodhpur and Kota Municipal Corporations, are scheduled for September 25. Celebrations are underway at the Rajasthan BJP headquarters in Jaipur following the party's performance in the urban local body chief elections. Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma arrived at the BJP headquarters, where Rajasthan BJP President and Rajya Sabha MP Madan Rathore and other leaders were also present. The BJP said the results reflected people's endorsement of the development works undertaken by the Bhajanlal Sharma government. Rajasthan BJP President Madan Rathore said independent candidates had contacted the party on the first day and expressed their support. He also criticised the Congress over the election results, alleging that the party was disrespecting the public mandate. Speaking to ANI, Rathore said, "Independent candidates already called us on the very first day to say, 'We are with you.' Based on this, we confidently declared to the media that we were winning. Secondly, look at how the Congress is disrespecting the public mandate. They did not receive votes; the votes were cast against them. The Congress merely levels allegations; they want to be known for rhetoric rather than action, and the party organisation is virtually non-existent. Citing the situation in Pali, Rathore said, "Consider the situation in Pali: The Congress candidate who won secured over 30 votes, whereas the party's official candidate received only three." Speaking to the media, Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal said, "It is a good result for us; the corporation is dominated by the BJP. This victory for the Congress despite the delimitation being in their favour shows the reality. There was a justification given for the delimitation, but some wards ended up being very large while others were very small." "An anti-incumbency factor was clearly reflected in the election; people in the city are against the government. They are misusing the entire police force. Those police personnel engaging in such misconduct will have to face the consequences in the future. We will find out exactly what happened in the corporation election, but the general impression is very clear: the BJP tried to hijack the entire election process with the help of the police and money," he further added. (ANI)
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