A day after the Congress failed to form governments in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, the party registered a victory in the Rajasthan local body bypolls. On Tuesday, 19 December, the Congress won the majority of seats in the bypolls to the Zila Parishads, Panchayat Samitis and municipal wards in BJP-ruled Rajasthan.
According to The Hindu, Congress bagged all four Zila Parishad seats, 16 of 27 of the Panchayat Samiti seats, and seven out the 13 municipal wards.
Meanwhile, the BJP won in 10 Panchayat Samiti wards, and an independent candidate took the remaining one seat. In the contest for municipal wards, BJP took the remaining six seats.
The local body wards, for which by-elections were held last week, are located in 26 districts of the state.
Celebrating the victory, state Congress president Sachin Pilot said the countdown for the BJP's ouster in the state had begun.
The results of the local bodies bypolls have proved that the countdown for the BJP in Rajasthan has begun. Congress has expressed the feelings of the people in the last four years and they have trust in the party.Sachin Pilot
The civic by-election results are a setback for the BJP as it lost two nagar palika wards in Baran district, which is a stronghold of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje's son, MP Dushyant Singh.
However, state BJP spokesperson, Anand Sharma said that the result was good for the party as it has grabbed several seats earlier held by the Congress.
In August, Opposition Congress had won 19 out of the total 37 seats in bypolls to urban local bodies and panchayati raj institutions while the ruling BJP had got ten.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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