Rajasthan:Congress leads in rural polls in 6 districts

In Rajasthan, the Congress is in the lead in the panchayat elctions in six districts. Congress has won 670 panchayat samiti seats and is likely to form the board in 4 zila parishads. The polling was held on August 26, 29 and September 1 for 200 zila parishad and 1,564 panchayat samiti seats in Bharatpur, Dausa, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Sawai Madhopur and Sirohi. 

Rajasthan Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra described the results as encouraging for his party and a setback for the opposition BJP. The Congress party has won the elections with an overwhelming majority. Out of 1,562 wards of panchayat samiti, 670 Congress candidates were victorious. In Bharatpur, 171 candidates of Congress ideology who contested the election without party symbol were the winners," he said.

The BJP won 551 panchayat samiti seats and 88 zila parishad seats. It is likely to form the zila parishad board in Sirohi. The BSP won 11 panchayat samiti and three zila parishad seats, while Independents bagged 290 and seven seats respectively. Hanuman Beniwal's Rashtriya Loktantrik Party, which was earlier in an alliance with the BJP, has also done well in Jodhpur where it won 40 seats. The Congress had trailed the BJP in both the zila parishad and panchayat samiti polls held in 21 districts in November-December last year. Out of 33 districts in Rajasthan, polling has been completed for 27.