Jaipur: As Rajasthan announced urban local body (ULB) poll results Monday, Shri Rajput Karni Sena president Mahipal Singh Makrana claimed that around 70% of the winning independent candidates were backed by the organisation over their support for UGC Regulations 2026 rollback. He said the independents have registered a “historic” performance, winning 20-25% of the wards across the state, which he attributed to the organisation’s campaign.This comes after Karni Sena’s call to boycott both BJP and Congress in the urban local body elections. The organisation urged voters to support only those candidates who gave a written undertaking backing the rollback of the controversial UGC Regulations 2026.
Independent candidate’s supporter of ward 8 after the declaration of results outside the counting centre in Jaipur, Rajasthan on 14 September 2026
Makrana said Karni Sena’s Swarna Nyay Manch supported more than 1,500 independent candidates during the election campaign. Citing the results in Makrana Municipal Council, he said independents won 36 out of 60 wards. He attributed the results in Bikaner, where BJP suffered a major setback, to the organisation’s campaign.BJP spokesperson Laxmikant Bhardwaj, however, said, “Local body elections always see a large number of independent candidates. The same trend was witnessed in the previous elections as well, so the current results in favour of independents cannot be attributed to any particular campaign.”
109 ward Candidate Rayes with his supporters after the declaration of results outside the counting centre in Jaipur, Rajasthan on 14 September 2026
