The BJP has registered a strong performance in Rajasthan’s urban local body elections. The party has formed boards in nine of the state’s 10 municipal corporations. If all urban local bodies are taken into account, the BJP has formed boards in 204 bodies, while the Congress managed to form boards in only 96.
In Banswara, the pary bagged two of the three urban local bodies, while the Congress won one. In Dungarpur, the BJP won both urban local bodies. In Pratapgarh, the BJP formed boards in three of the four urban local bodies, the Congress won one.
From the local-level organisation to the top leadership, the BJP participated in the urban civic polls with detailed planning. Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma has also held roadshows, which had an impact.
The party also won four assembly seats and emerged as Rajasthan’s third-largest party. The party had focussed even on the grassroots level. This helped the BJP create its own space in the tribal belt, between the Congress’s traditional voter base and the Bhil identity politics of the Bharat Adivasi Party or BAP. The biggest setback in these elections came for the BAP. The party failed to form a board in even a single urban local body across the three districts. The BAP entered the urban local body elections with enthusiasm this time, but failed to secure a board in any of these tribal-dominated areas. At the same time, members of the tribal community, traditionally seen as Congress voters, appear to be moving away from the party.
Its vote share had also increased rapidly after the 2018 assembly elections.
Before the urban local body elections, the Chief Minister had visited several areas of the tribal belt.
