After Madhya Pradesh, Major Win in Rajasthan for BJP

The BJP will hold at least 78 of the 129 municipal bodies for which elections were held. The Congress won in 34 and the independents in 16.

In embarrassment for Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, the opposition Congress has won two out of three  civic bodies in Jhalawar, her assembly constituency.

"Both Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have seen victory with margins in the civic polls. This mandate is a reflection of the honesty of the BJP in the two states," said the party's Rajiv Pratap Rudy.

The BJP's chief ministers in both states have been targeted by the Congress, which has demanded their resignation over major controversies - Ms Raje for the Lalit Modi scandal and Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Chouhan for the Vyapam scam.

This was the first major political test for Ms Raje after what is being called "Lalitgate erupted."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, "A big thank you to people of Rajasthan. Congrats to Rajasthan BJP workers & leaders on the commendable performance in the civic polls." BJP chief Amit Shah congratulated Ms Raje.

The state BJP had expected a bigger victory today after sweeping the first phase of municipal elections in November.

The Congress's Sachin Pilot insisted that today's result is a "moral defeat" for the BJP. He said the gap in vote share between the BJP and the Congress is just one per cent; it was 26 per cent when the BJP swept the state in national elections last year, he pointed out.

Ms Raje had led her party to a two-thirds majority in the assembly elections held in late 2013, unseating the Congress. Months later she posted a perfect score in the national election, with the BJP winning all 25 of Rajasthan's seats.

The civic polls were also a test for Sachin Pilot. The young Congress leader and former union minister has been engaged in revitalising his party's deeply fractured cadres in the state after it was decimated in recent elections.