Cong rebel wins Jaipur Zila Pramukh poll as BJP candidate by just 1 vote

In a setback to the ruling Congress, its rebel Rama Devi won the Jaipur Zila Pramukh seat as a BJP candidate, defeating her rival just one vote due to cross-voting in elections held Monday.

With this, the BJP and the Congress both have their boards in three Zila Parishads each out of six where elections were held and results announced during the day.

Rama Devi got 26 votes, defeating Congress' Saroj Devi by just one vote.

Elections in 78 Panchayat Samitis and six Zila Parishads were held in three phases and results were announced Saturday. The elected Panchayat Samiti and Zila Parishad members elect Pradhan and Zila Pramukh respectively.

State Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra termed Rama Devi, who was not made a Zila Pramukh candidate by the Congress, leaving the party backstabbing and betrayal. The BJP formed the board by dishonesty, he alleged.

"The Congress had got a majority in four out of six Zila Parishads while the BJP gained a clear majority in one zila parishad and in one, it was near majority. However, the BJP has formed boards in three Zila Parishad and what happened in Jaipur was backstabbing by our colleagues, Dotasra told reporters.

He said that out of 78 Panchayat Samitis, the Congress has made Pradhans in 50, the BJP in 25 and while independents became Pradhan.

Dotasra said that what happened in Jaipur Zila Parishad was also a result of what the BJP, the RSS, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.

They grab power by strangulating and murdering democracy. They topple elected governments and this is what they tried to do in Rajasthan last year but could not succeed. The BJP has managed to win the election of Zila Pramukh by dishonesty. It is not the BJP which has won, it is the backstabbing by our people which has won, Dotasra said.

Rama Devi, who had won the Zila Parishad election as a Congress candidate from ward 17 in the Chaksu assembly constituency, joined the BJP just hours before Zila Pramukh elections.

The ward comes under the assembly constituency of Congress MLA Vedprakash Solanki, who is considered close to former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot.

Miffed over Rama Devi's rebellion for not being made the candidate for Zila Pramukh, Dotasra expelled her from the party for six years.

Elated over the development, BJP state president Satish Poonia said that it was the trailer of 2023-assembly elections.

The results disappoint those who feel happy with the defeat of BJP. The public has rejected the Congress due to its ideology and conduct. This is a trailer of the 2023-assembly elections, he said.

Including Jaipur, BJP won elections of Zila Pramukh in Sirohi (where it had a clear majority) and Bharatpur (with the help of independents) while the Congress formed boards in Jodhpur, Sawaimadhopur and Dausa.

In the counting, the Congress secured majority in Jaipur, Jodhpur, Sawai Madhopur, Dausa, while the BJP gained majority in Sirohi Zila Parishad.

The BJP also emerged as the single largest party in Bharatpur Zila Parishad but fell short of a clear majority.

Of the 37 seats in Bharatpur Zila Parishad, 17 went to the BJP, 14 to the Congress, four to Independents and two to the BSP.

Elections were also held for 1,564 seats in 78 panchayat samiti in six districts in which Congress had won 670 seats and BJP 551.

Rajasthan has a total of 33 Zila Parishads and 352 Panchayat Samitis at block level.

Of them, elections in 21 districts (21 Zila Parishad and 222 Panchayat Samiti) were held in November- December last year.

In those elections, BJP candidates had become Pramukhs in 13 Zila Parishads, Congress candidates in five and independents became Pramukh in remaining three Zila Parishads.

The Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections in the remaining 12 districts could not take place due to the high court stay on the creation of 19 new municipalities in these districts, in which the area of Panchayati Raj Institutions was also revised.