New Delhi: A push by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Rajasthan to hold elections to all urban local bodies (ULBs) and panchayats simultaneously may delay several polls due later this year.
While the ‘one state, one election’ pitch is ostensibly aimed at improving governance, several BJP functionaries point to another factor — that the party isn’t ready for an electoral contest after the setback in the Lok Sabha polls, when the party lost in 11 of the 25 seats in the state, and a number of challenges that have ensued since then — state cabinet minister Kirodi Lal Meena’s resignation, floods in multiple districts, and so on.
There are 213 ULBs in Rajasthan — 11 municipal corporations, 33 town councils and 169 municipal boards — beside more than one lakh positions of panch and sarpanch in the panchayati institutions. The last election to the local bodies was held in a staggered manner over two years between 2019 and 2021 due to the Covid pandemic.
In December 2020, BJP had finished third in the elections to several ULBs, while Congress had bounced back after suffering losses in the Panchayat elections. Of the 1,775 wards of municipal local bodies, Congress had bagged 620, while independent candidates had won in 595. BJP had won in 548 wards.
The delimitation exercise for wards was initiated via a notification soon after the Lok Sabha polls and was to be completed by August to meet the November deadline for the local body elections. However, while presenting the state budget last month, Rajasthan Finance Minister Diya Kumari said that the government would work on clubbing the elections to all municipalities and corporations with the panchayat polls.
For simultaneous elections to occur, the terms of several local bodies will have to end first, and the government will have to amend the law by bringing in a bill or an ordinance.
Jhabar Singh Kharra, Rajasthan urban development and self-governance minister, told ThePrint, “We have decided to club all elections to local bodies into one. For this, consultation is underway since the process is complicated. Elections can be held only by September next year as several steps have to be taken with respect to bodies whose tenure is yet to end and those whose term is ending in November this year. Consultations with the law department for an ordinance or bill are on.”
Newly elected Rajasthan BJP president, Madan Rathore, told mediapersons Thursday that the state election commission is working to frame the rules for conducting one election in the state. “The state government’s work suffers every time the model code of conduct is implemented for an election,” he said.
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The bypoll challenge
But Rajasthan BJP functionaries say that the ‘one state, one poll’ pitch is not the only reason behind deferment of the elections.
“The government formed under Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma in December needed time to exhibit their work in the state to be able to face elections. BJP’s poor performance in the Lok Sabha polls was a result of the state government not getting enough time to make any major announcements to swing voters,” a BJP functionary told ThePrint.
“January was about portfolio distribution and taking charge. The new chief minister had only February and March to make a mark, but the party was then busy with selection of candidates and campaigning. Now, the government has presented a good budget and wants to buy time to face another election,” the functionary said.
Another BJP functionary said, “The government has to face the electoral challenge of bypolls in six assembly seats, five of which were vacated after the legislators were elected to the Lok Sabha. None of those seats were held by the BJP. That is the main challenge.”
The BJP candidate had lost in the Dausa seat by 31,000 votes in the assembly polls in 2023, and then again in the Lok Sabha elections this year. Similarly, BJP lost Jhunjhunu both times. Besides these, the MLAs of Khinwsar, Chorasi, Deoli-Uniara have also moved to the Lok Sabha.
“BJP’s first priority is to win the bypolls to showcase the political craftsmanship of the Bhajan Lal-led government. If bjp doesn’t get any seat, it will not send out the right message. Local body elections can wait, the assembly byelections cannot as they are conducted by the central election commission,” the functionary said.
According to a former Rajasthan BJP president, the party needs to solve issues within the organisation, too.
“The Dausa and Deoli regions are under the care of Kirodi Lal Meena. He resigned from the cabinet last month after the Lok Sabha setback in his area. Both the chief minister and party president J.P. Nadda have asked Meena to take his resignation back for the bypoll preparation, but Meena has been throwing tantrums, while the state is grappling with floods. The chief minister himself has been forced to pitch in place of Meena, who was responsible for flood mitigation. This is sending the wrong signals,” the leader said.
A functionary said that one election to all local bodies is more “practical” for the BJP. “In the last local body elections, the Gehlot government had suffered in the panchayats, but performed well in ULBs. BJP’s strength lies in the urban areas. However, last time, many who lost the panchayat elections had rebelled and contested in the urban bodies. BJP doesn’t want to take that risk, and so clubbing the elections would be a practical solution.”
Tribhuvan, a political expert based in Rajasthan, told ThePrint, “Ashok Gehlot had dented local governance by holding elections in several tranches to suit his political needs in panchayat and urban bodies. Clubbing all local body elections is not a bad Idea. It will help governance and will give the state government more room for work.”
Meanwhile, Congress has demanded that the elections be held according to schedule, and said that the ‘one election’ idea is not practical.
Swarnim Chaturvedi, Rajasthan Congress spokesperson, said, “BJP does not have the courage to face local body elections after the Lok Sabha setback. Not just people, even their own workers are raising questions on the government’s performance. Without setting their house in order, they don’t want to face elections.”
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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