The panchayat elections in Rajasthan have seen the BJP come out on top. However, the performance does not measure up to the party's landslide victories in the 2013 Assembly and 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The polls were also the first elections that have been held under a new ordinance that mandates some educational qualification for candidates.
The BJP won 20 of the 33 zila parishads that went to the polls, with the Congress taking eight and results awaited for four. The gap however was smaller when it came to the number of panchayat samite members. The BJP new has 2960 to Congress's 2490. A total of 549 independents have also been elected.
The panchayat election was the first instance that polls have been held under the new ordinance that has put in place minimum educational requirements. Sarpanches have to be Class 8 pass, while zila parishad and panchayat samiti members need to have passed class 10.
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Another notable result in the panchayat polls has been in Nagaur District's Tarnu village, which has elected an all-woman panchayat. Here the sarpanch, the deputy sarpanch and the 11-member gram panchayat are all women, chosen by consensus.
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The educational criteria have also hit the backward classes. Thirteen villages in Rajasthan could not elect a sarpanch, as there was no candidate whom met the educational criteria.
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