The BJP has secured a narrow lead over the Congress in Rajasthan’s urban local body elections, winning 35.18 per cent of the votes across 309 civic bodies while independent candidates emerged as major players in several municipalities.
The BJP received 37,35,567 votes, compared with 36,35,952 votes for the Congress, according to the election figures cited in the report. The difference between the two parties was 99,615 votes, translating into a winning margin of 0.94 percentage points.
The results were welcomed by Telangana BJP president Ramchander Rao, who said the outcome reflected the mood of voters across the country. Speaking to ANI, Rao alleged that the Congress and the INDIA alliance had attempted to defame the BJP government in Rajasthan and spread propaganda against it.
“The BJP’s victory in Rajasthan’s local body and municipal elections is an indicator of the mood of the people across the country,” Rao said. He added that the BJP had remained ahead throughout the elections and had won almost all the corporations, along with a large number of ward seats and municipalities.
The results also highlighted the fragmented nature of voting in Rajasthan’s urban institutions. Independent candidates secured 27.38 per cent of the total votes, or 29,06,787 votes. Their performance was significant in civic bodies where no party won a clear majority, potentially making them central to the formation of municipal boards and the selection of local leadership.
The BJP won 78 seats in the Jaipur Municipal Corporation board. The result gives the party a substantial position in the state’s largest urban civic institution, while the broader vote distribution shows that the contest remained close between the two principal parties.
The None of the Above option received 1.03 per cent of the votes, amounting to 1,09,523 votes. Among the other parties, the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party secured 0.94 per cent, the Aam Aadmi Party received 0.46 per cent, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) won 0.32 per cent, the Bahujan Samaj Party secured 0.28 per cent and the Bharat Adivasi Party received 0.13 per cent.
BJP leader Chandrashekhar Bawankule, who was in charge of the party’s Rajasthan civic poll campaign and is also a Maharashtra minister, described the result as a major victory. He criticised the Opposition’s campaign and said voters had rejected its policies.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier welcomed the result in a post on X, saying the mandate represented support for the BJP’s policies of governance and development under the “double-engine” government.
The immediate administrative significance of the result will depend on the composition of individual municipal boards, particularly in civic bodies where independents hold enough seats to influence majority formation. The election outcome now moves to the stage of constituting the boards and determining local leadership across Rajasthan’s urban bodies.
