Jaipur: Smaller parties made notable inroads in Rajasthan’s urban local bodies Monday, with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), CPM and Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) forming boards in Baran, Nokha and Marwar Mundwa, respectively, breaking BJP-Congress dominance in pockets of the state.The results were limited in scale but politically significant because these parties converted ward-level gains into control of civic bodies, rather than merely playing spoilers or bargaining for support.In Baran Municipal Council, AAP’s Sheetal Rathore was elected chairperson after the party secured a clear majority. AAP won 31 of the 60 wards, while Congress won 18, BJP nine and independents two.Former AAP state president Naveen Paliwal said the party had laid the groundwork for the result during the campaign for independent candidate Naresh Meena in Baran’s Anta assembly bypoll in 2025.Senior AAP functionary Sanjay Singh had campaigned in Anta during the bypoll. “During Sanjay Singh’s visit, people from across Baran showed strong support for AAP. This is just the beginning,” Paliwal said.In Nokha Municipality in Bikaner district, CPM formed the board for the first time since it began contesting elections in Rajasthan in the 1960s. Bajrang Lal Soni was elected chairperson. CPM won 29 of the 45 wards, while BJP won 13 and independents three.CPM leader and Sikar MP Amra Ram said the party would focus on transparent governance and development in Nokha.“This is our first, but not the last. The CPM will provide transparent local governance in Nokha and work for the development of people by providing basic facilities as well as improving their standard of living. We will strive to make Nokha an exemplary municipality in the state,” Amra Ram said.BJP emerged as the single largest party in the Marwar Mundwa Municipality elections with 10 of the 25 wards, but RLP retained control of the board after its chairperson candidate Alka Kandoi secured the required support from Congress, a BJP rebel and Independents.RLP had won seven wards, while Congress secured three and Independents five. With no party crossing the majority mark of 13, the chairperson election was decided by cross-party support.RLP, led by Nagaur MP Hanuman Beniwal, also made its presence felt in Mundwa Municipality, where RLP candidate Alka Kandoi was elected chairperson.Across 10,244 wards in 309 urban local bodies, BJP won 4,182 wards, followed by Congress with 3,619 and independents with 2,273. Among smaller parties, RLP won 63 wards, AAP 42, CPM 38, BSP 19 and Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) eight.The wider verdict remained dominated by BJP and Congress. But the wins in Baran, Nokha and Marwar Mundwa showed that smaller parties, when backed by local organisation or concentrated pockets of support, could move beyond symbolic presence and capture civic power.
