BSP chief Mayawati on Tuesday alleged that many of her party candidates were "forcibly defeated" in the Rajasthan urban local body elections by a margin of just a few votes due to "irregularities in the government machinery".
The ruling BJP on Monday won 4,179 wards against the Congress' 3,613, securing clear majorities in four of the state's 10 municipal corporations - Jaipur, Udaipur, Kota, and Bhilwara.
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Deep Dive
What irregularities did Mayawati claim affected the Rajasthan civic polls?
How did the recent Rajasthan civic poll results impact different political parties?
Why is the performance of the BSP in the Rajasthan elections significant for future elections?
In a post on X in Hindi on Tuesday, Mayawati said, "In the urban local body elections held in Rajasthan, the BSP has also succeeded this time by getting its councillors elected to 19 seats, and many candidates were forcibly defeated in the recount by a margin of just a few votes due to irregularities in the government machinery; otherwise, the party could have achieved an even better result here."
The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister further said, "Before this, in the local body elections held in Punjab and some other states of the country as well, the party achieved better results than before," she said.
{{/usCountry}}The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister further said, "Before this, in the local body elections held in Punjab and some other states of the country as well, the party achieved better results than before," she said.
{{/usCountry}}She also expressed hope that the party will get better results in the upcoming assembly elections there and in the Lok Sabha elections.
Election verdicts across the spectrum
The Congress secured a majority in the Bikaner Municipal Corporation and scored a major victory in the municipal council in Jhalawar, considered a stronghold of former chief minister Vasundhara Raje.
Independents emerged as a major force by winning 2,273 wards and dominating the verdict in the municipal corporation in Bharatpur, the hometown of Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma, where they bagged 36 of the 65 wards.
Bharatpur gave one of the most striking verdicts of the elections as Independents won 36 of the 65 wards, while the BJP managed 20 and the Congress seven. The BSP and the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) won one ward each.
According to figures available on the State Election Commission's website, results for 10,235 of the 10,244 wards where counting was being held were declared till 8.30 pm on Monday.
Apart from the BJP's 4,179 and the Congress' 3,613 wards, the RLP won 63, AAP 42, CPI(M) 38, BSP 19 and Bharat Adivasi Party eight.