Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India], September 14 (ANI): Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Monday hailed the Bharatiya Janata Party's performance in the Rajasthan urban local body elections, saying the party's victory and Congress's defeat reflected the people's continued faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has emerged as the leading party in the Rajasthan urban local body elections, winning the Jaipur Municipal Corporation board with 78 seats, while independent candidates have emerged as key players in several other civic bodies where no party has secured a clear majority.
Reacting to the election results, Yadav said, "Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, faith in the BJP is being expressed across the entire country. The resounding victory achieved in the recent local body elections in Rajasthan—and the defeat of the Congress—is excellent news. I extend my congratulations. Rahul Gandhi held a program in Kota just a few days ago, yet the BJP secured a massive majority in the Kota local body elections, demonstrating where the youth's inclination lies."
BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi also welcomed the election trends, saying the results indicated a strong mandate for the BJP in Rajasthan.
"The public has given a befitting reply to the way the Congress government had manipulated the local body election process in Rajasthan... Even more significant is the fact that in Kota—where Rahul Gandhi had gone and attempted to spread falsehoods—the BJP appears to be winning impressively. This indicates, to some extent, that the Congress party's rhetoric contains more propaganda than reality... Therefore, we express our gratitude to the people of Rajasthan for these election results..."
BJP National Secretary Rohan Gupta attributed the party's performance to the government's work and outreach during the campaign, saying voters supported the BJP's "triple-engine" governance model.
"I am very enthusiastic about the way we sought the public’s blessings for a triple-engine government and the manner in which Bhajanlal ji presented his two-and-a-half-year report card to the people. For a Chief Minister to state on the floor of the Assembly that 78% of promises had been fulfilled—without a single objection from the opposition—demonstrates the sensitivity and seriousness with which we honoured our commitments. Subsequently, the entire central team was actively involved throughout the election campaign. We engaged with the public and conveyed our message, and the trend was clear. The Congress party is likely the first in the world to face anti-incumbency despite being in the opposition. They were once divided into two factions, but now there are four."
He added, "The public does not reward such behaviour with votes. You cannot win votes merely by making tall claims or creating social media reels; you must demonstrate genuine seriousness about your intentions before the people...I wish to thank the people of Rajasthan, especially the youth, for the blessings they have bestowed. It was the youth who deflated the Congress party’s narrative. The very students of Kota, where Congress had organised a programme titled “Goonj” to highlight student issues, have now silenced that very “Goonj,” because the public knows where the true voice lies."
Meanwhile, Rajasthan Congress president Govind Singh Dotasra hit back at the BJP, claiming that the ruling party's performance was a result of electoral practices and not public support.
"When local elections happen, most votes tend to go in favor of the ruling power. This has been the trend for a long time. But this time, the BJP has been completely wiped out. In the Lok Sabha, more than 50% of their votes were there, and today they've dropped to 34-35%. They engaged in dishonest practices in the wards and delimitation.... In a major city like Jaipur, within the municipal corporation, Congress is ahead of the Bharatiya Janata Party in total votes by a margin of 10,000 votes... So, if we assess just the Jaipur Municipal Corporation, the BJP is behind Congress by 60-65 thousand votes... The vote percentage between Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party—whenever the BJP was in power, it used to be around 9% ahead. Last time we were in government, we were ahead by 2-2.5%."
"The misgovernance they've delivered, the public has shown them the mirror... In the 10 municipal corporations where the Chief Minister went, they managed a majority in only four, and that too due to dishonest delimitation; in the remaining 6, the majority is with Independents and Congress, not the Bharatiya Janata Party. This shows that this government has completely failed. Panchayat Raj elections are coming up, and in those, the Bharatiya Janata Party will face twice the debacle," Dotasra said.
Out of the 150 wards in the Jaipur Municipal Corporation, results for 146 wards have been declared so far. The BJP has won 78 wards, while the Congress has secured 53 seats and independent candidates have won 15 wards.
The final picture in the four remaining wards will be clear after re-polling at five booths due to technical issues with Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). Jaipur District Collector Sandesh Nayak said the EVM results could not be retrieved from booths in Ward 9 (Booth No. 111), Ward 18 (Booth No. 235), Ward 25 (Booth No. 343), and Ward 34 (Booth Nos. 477 and 484). (ANI)
"Faith in BJP expressed across country": MP CM Mohan Yadav hails BJP's performance in Rajasthan civic polls
