JAIPUR: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has emerged as the clear winner in the Baran Municipal Council elections in Rajasthan, securing 31 of the 60 seats and winning a majority in the civic body.The Congress finished second with 18 seats, while the BJP won nine. Independents secured two seats.The final results came after the AAP initially claimed victory in 32 of the 60 seats in Baran. The party later emerged with 31 seats in the final tally.The Baran result gives AAP a decisive presence in the municipal council and marks a notable performance for the party in Rajasthan’s urban local body elections.The party highlighted its Baran performance as a sign of growing acceptance of its political agenda and development model beyond the states where it is in power.In a post on X, AAP said its victory in Baran was sending a message that the vision and development model of its national convenor Arvind Kejriwal were being welcomed across the country.AAP’s statewide tallyAcross Rajasthan, the AAP won 42 wards in the urban local body elections, according to the overall results. The BJP emerged as the largest party with 4,171 ward wins, followed by the Congress with 3,597. Independents won 2,272 wards, while the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party secured 63, CPI(M) 38, BSP 19 and Bharat Adivasi Party eight.The 31 seats won by AAP in Baran account for a substantial portion of its statewide tally of 42 wards.Rajasthan civic pollsThe elections are being seen as an important political test for the BJP government led by chief minister Bhajan Lal Sharma and the opposition Congress ahead of the 2028 Assembly polls.Polling for 309 urban local bodies was conducted in two phases on September 9 and 11. A total of 10,245 councillors are being elected across 10 municipal corporations, 51 municipal councils and 248 municipalities. More than 1.44 crore voters were eligible to cast their ballots.Mayors and chairpersons of the urban local bodies will be elected on September 21, followed by elections for deputy mayors, deputy chairpersons and municipal vice-presidents on September 22.(With agency inputs)
