JAIPUR: The BJP has edged past the Congress by less than one percentage point in Rajasthan’s urban local body elections, with the ruling party securing 35.18% of the votes compared with Congress’s 34.24%.Across 309 civic bodies, the BJP polled 37,35,567 votes, while Congress received 36,35,952 votes. The difference between the two parties stood at 99,615 votes, or 0.94 percentage points.Independent candidates collectively secured 27.38% of the votes, with 29,06,787 votes. NOTA received 1.03%, or 1,09,523 votes, more than the vote shares of several smaller parties.The Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) secured 0.94% of the votes (1,00,277), followed by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) at 0.46% (49,829), CPI(M) at 0.32% (34,170), the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) at 0.28% (30,179) and the Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) at 0.13% (14,150).NOTA’s vote share was higher than that of five regional and national parties, including RLP and AAP. The NOTA votes were largely attributed to local protests over new UGC regulations.In Jaipur Municipal Corporation, the BJP won 78 of the 150 wards for which results have so far been declared. Congress won 53 wards, while independents secured 15. Results for the remaining four wards are pending.The final results in the four wards will be determined after re-polling at five booths following technical problems with EVMs. Jaipur District Collector Sandesh Nayak said results could not be retrieved from Ward 9 (Booth 111), Ward 18 (Booth 235), Ward 25 (Booth 343) and Ward 34 (Booths 477 and 484).Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday welcomed the BJP’s performance in the elections and said the mandate reflected public support for the party’s policies of good governance and development under the “double-engine” government.“Heartfelt thanks to the people of Rajasthan for delivering a resounding victory to the BJP in the municipal elections. This is a testament to the triumph of truth over the echo of lies,” Modi said in a post on X.He said the mandate would strengthen the government’s resolve to take Rajasthan towards greater progress and prosperity, while congratulating the winning candidates and party workers.(With ANI inputs)
