Resort politics has returned to Rajasthan, as political parties joust to capture power in municipal corporations, councils, and municipalities to place their candidates atop important posts such as mayor and chairman. What’s making political parties nervous is the fact that the anti-defection law, the legal protection against defections, does not apply to local body elections.
The Congress has won a majority in Bikaner Municipal Corporation. His pictures eating sweets were released on social media. It has also emerged as the single-largest party in Pali and Ajmer Municipal Corporations. The BJP is the single-largest party in Alwar. A night later, he issued a video statement claiming a change of heart. “I am with the Congress. Political observers are mystified as Mohammad Raees’ vote is not required by the BJP to form the government, but the outreach to every councillor shows that the parties are not taking even a single vote for granted. The BJP councillors are sequestered in a hotel near the Jain pilgrimage site of Nakoda Ji and were seen singing songs with Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in a viral video. The Congress councillors have been huddled in a hotel on the outskirts of the city.
Of the 47 municipal councils, the BJP is the clear winner in 13, the Congress in 7 and in the other 27, the political game depends on independents. The BJP is the single-largest party only in 68 cities; the Congress in 42.
The earlier video of me with the BJP was my mistake,” he said. Former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has said that the BJP is trying to form boards by horse-trading. “I have received information from Bikaner that they are trying to contact Congress councillors; in Jodhpur, the BJP has taken away seven of our councillors, and they are paying INR 2 crore for each candidate,” he alleged.
She has since gone missing.
Dramatic scenes unfolded outside the Congress office in Jaipur as relatives of Archana Badgujjar, a chairman candidate, said she had contested the elections on the BJP ticket and had now joined the opposition.
