Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], September 23 : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured the Deputy Mayor posts in Bikaner and Ajmer Municipal Corporations following the results being declared of the closely contested elections. BJP candidate Pankaj Gehlot won in Bikaner despite the Congress having a clear majority, while in Ajmer, Hemant Sankhla was declared the winner after a 40-40 tie was decided through a lottery.
In Bikaner, BJP candidate Pankaj Gehlot won the Deputy Mayor election with 40 votes, defeating Congress candidate Naseem Bano, who received 38 votes. One vote went to NOTA, and one vote was declared invalid.
The Congress had 42 councillors in the Municipal Corporation and had earlier secured the Mayor's post through its candidate Anil Kalla. However, the BJP changed its strategy for the Deputy Mayor election and mobilised councillors to secure support for Gehlot.
The Bikaner result marked a change in the political equation in the Municipal Corporation, with the Congress retaining the Mayor's post while the BJP secured the Deputy Mayor's position.
Meanwhile, in Ajmer, the Deputy Mayor election witnessed a 40-40 tie between BJP candidate Hemant Sankhla and Congress candidate Naurat Gurjar. The winner was subsequently decided through a lottery, with Sankhla emerging victorious.
Following the result, BJP City President Ramesh Soni and former Deputy Mayor Neeraj Jain attributed the victory to the party's organisational strength, leadership and the support of councillors and the public. They also praised Sankhla, saying he had been elected as a councillor for the third consecutive time and had now become Deputy Mayor.
BJP leaders also said the party's 40 councillors remained united during the election and linked the victory to the policies of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre and the Bhajanlal Sharma government in Rajasthan. They also described the lottery-based victory as a victory nonetheless, irrespective of whether it came through a single vote or a lottery.
The BJP's victories in Bikaner and Ajmer come amid a broader contest between the BJP and Congress over key posts in Rajasthan's urban local bodies.
Reacting to the local body election results, Rajasthan Leader of Opposition Tikaram Jully alleged irregularities in the elections and said the Congress would secure more Deputy Mayor, Deputy Chairperson and Deputy Vice-Chairman posts than before.
Jully said, "We will secure more posts of deputy mayor, deputy chairperson, or deputy vice-chairman than before because they committed massive irregularities during the chairperson elections. They employed every tactic—such as offering inducements, exerting pressure, and manipulation—in an attempt to hijack the entire electoral process. The people of Rajasthan have witnessed this assault on democracy, and they will have to pay the price for it."