Rajasthan Civic Polls: BJP Leads Statewide As Congress Ends Its 36-Year Grip On Ajmer

Counting got underway on Monday for the second phase of Rajasthan's urban local body elections, covering 309 civic bodies across the state, including 10 municipal corporations, 51 municipal councils and 248 municipalities. By afternoon, trends showed the Bharatiya Janata Party holding a clear edge over the Congress in ward-level tallies statewide, even as the day produced one of its most striking upsets in the temple city of Ajmer.

BJP Ahead In Most Corporations, But Margins Narrowing

Running tallies through the day put the BJP comfortably ahead of the Congress across the bulk of contested wards, with independents and smaller outfits such as the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party also picking up a meaningful share of seats. The party was reported to be leading in marquee corporations including Jaipur, Udaipur and Kota, reinforcing its dominant position in Rajasthan's urban centres since sweeping to power in the state two years ago. In the Jaipur Municipal Corporation itself, where voting for all 150 wards took place on September 11, early trends had the BJP well ahead of the Congress, though counting continued through the day before a final picture emerged.

Congress Ends BJP's 36-Year Run In Ajmer

The day's biggest upset came in Ajmer, where the Congress emerged as the single largest party in the municipal corporation, breaking a BJP hold on the civic body that had lasted 36 years. The BJP's tally fell sharply from the 48 wards it won in the previous election to around 32 this time, while the Congress climbed to roughly 37 seats. With neither party crossing the halfway mark on its own, a group of about 11 independent councillors is now positioned to play kingmaker in deciding who leads the corporation and claims the mayor's post. One of the more closely watched contests saw a Congress candidate unseat the wife of a former board chairman who had been seen as a strong mayoral contender, underlining how personal and local the swing against the BJP was in the city.

Independents Dominate Bharatpur, Jodhpur Runs Close

Bharatpur produced an even sharper break from the two main parties, with independents winning more than half of the corporation's roughly 65 seats, leaving both the BJP and Congress well behind. Jodhpur, by contrast, turned into one of the tightest contests of the day, with the BJP and Congress running neck and neck for large stretches of the count. Turnout figures released through the day were healthy in several cities; in Ajmer, roughly two-thirds of the more than 4.3 lakh registered voters cast ballots.

Why It Matters

Urban local body elections rarely reshape national politics on their own, but they are closely watched as a temperature check on state governments between assembly elections, and as training grounds for local leadership. A result like Ajmer's, where a party in power for over three and a half decades lost control of the civic body, will likely draw scrutiny within the BJP's state unit even as the party posts a broadly comfortable statewide performance. For the Congress, Ajmer offers a rare bright spot to build on ahead of future contests, while the strong independent showing in Bharatpur points to continued anti-incumbency sentiment that neither national party has fully captured.

This is an original summary based on public reporting. See our editorial policy for how we source, write, and correct our stories.