Voters have rejected the opposition's negative politics, said Prakash Javadekar.
Highlights
- Only half the state voted for local bodies in districts and villages
- The BJP is already posting victory reactions
- The Congress had recently performed well in urban local body polls
The BJP today claimed big gains in Rajasthan with the ruling Congress, fresh out of a revolt that almost brought down its government earlier this year, losing in most of the 21 districts that voted in local body polls.
Voting for Panchayat Samiti and Zila Parishads or local bodies in districts and villages was held across 21 districts in four rounds in November and early December.
The BJP won 14 Zila Parishads or district-level boards while the Congress managed only five, according to Union Minister Prakash Javadekar. As for Panchayat Samitis or block-level boards in villages, the BJP has an edge in 93 of the 222 seats where voting took place. The Congress has 81.
As the government confronts unrelenting farmer protests near Delhi, the BJP called the Rajasthan results -- along with a string of recent election victories -- a vindication of the party's stand on farm reforms. "This shows that the people of Rajasthan are with the BJP. And not only Rajasthan, the results in Bihar, Telangana, Arunachal Pradesh, all show that the entire nation are happy with the BJP and its reforms. Voters have rejected the opposition's negative politics," said Mr Javadekar.
"Be it east, south, north .. wherever you go, it's BJP, BJP, BJP. Despite the opposition's attack on farm reforms, people are supporting the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi," he added.
But while the BJP has beaten the Congress, it hasn't done better than its own performance in 2015.
The total number of seats is different in 2020 from 2015; there was no voting this time in 12 districts where the redefining of boundaries has been challenged in court. So the BJP only appears to have done better. Compared to 2015, there is a three per cent slide in the BJP's tally. In the Panchayat Samitis, the BJP won 48.4 per cent of the seats in 2015, compared to 45.5 this time. In Zila Parishads, the BJP has won 55 per cent of the seats compared to 58.2 per cent in 2015.
Rajasthan Zila Parishad election results
Smaller parties like former BJP leader Hanuman Beniwal's Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP), a BJP ally, have done well. He is set to be the kingmaker in his area of influence, Nagaur. The Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP), is winning in Dungarpur, beating both giants, BJP and Congress.
Panchayat Samiti election results
The Congress had recently performed well in urban local body polls, electing its mayor in four out of six municipal corporations. But the erosion of support in rural areas, especially a tribal stronghold like Dungarpur, should be worrying for the party that came to power in the state in 2018.
Party seniors concede that the raging feud between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot, who rebelled against him, is barely under the lid and is chipping away at the Congress's dominance in Rajasthan.
Sachin Pilot was Congress president for over five years in Rajasthan. With his replacement, there is a distinct power vacuum in the Congress's organisational structure and it has affected the party's performance in the rural polls, leaders say.
To keep the balance of power in his cabinet, Chief Minister Gehlot has also not made political appointments, a signal that has not gone down well with the party cadre in Rajasthan.
The Congress has also lost out in regions dominated by its stalwarts, like new Rajasthan chief Govind Singh Dotasara in Sikar, state Health Minister Raghu Sharma in Ajmer (the BJP has won nine of 11 blocks) and state Sports Minister Ashok Chandana in Hindoli (BJP has won 13 of 23 blocks).
The setback in rural Rajasthan is a sign that the party is sliding in its traditional bases. Besides the infighting, the Gehlot government's decisions like raising electricity tariffs seems to have led to more disenchantment.
The BJP, on the other hand, has made gains at a time one of its towering Rajasthan leaders, former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, seems to have taken a back seat.
Vasundhara Raje congratulated the winning BJP candidates. "Heartiest congratulations to all the hard-working candidates of the BJP who won the Zila Parishad and Panchayati Samiti elections. Heartfelt thanks also to the people of the state, who have reposed faith in the BJP by denying the false claims of the Congress government," Ms Raje said in a statement.