Jaipur: Jaipur Municipal Corporation’s Ward 62, noted for highest number of contestants, elected BJP candidate Ramavtar Sharma as councillor. Sharma (44), comfortably secured 5,791 votes and defeated his nearest rival, Hajari of Congress by 1,080 votes, confirming BJP’s hold in a crowded contest.The ward saw 14 candidates in the fray, including nominees of Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP), besides several independents. A senior BJP functionary from the ward said the large field did not unsettle Sharma’s campaign. “Even the pre-poll internal assessment of our ward organisation had predicted Sharma’s win ,” he stated.Sharma said independents and smaller parties failed to change the outcome. The Congress candidate placed second, while the RLP and AAP candidates finished 11th and 12th, respectively.Ward 62 also drew attention because the election commission ordered a repoll at Part 23 after 110 voters, whose names appeared in the deletion entries of the voter list, were mistakenly allowed to vote in the first round. Election officials said the initial polling Friday recorded about 48% turnout. During Saturday’s repoll, participation rose to around 73%.
