The Congress trailed behind the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Rajasthan civic elections, the results of which were announced on Thursday, but managed to close the gap with the ruling party created in the previous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.
The Opposition party won in the bastions Jhalawar and Dholpur of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and her son, Dushyant Singh, claiming the results vindicated its demand for their resignations in the alleged scandal involving former Indian Premier League commissioner Lalit Modi.
The BJP won 1,443 of the 3,351 wards, while the Congress won 1,164. Both claimed victory: the BJP on the basis of its majority and the Congress for bouncing back from 25-0 in the Lok Sabha elections.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked the people of the State on Twitter. “Congrats to Rajasthan BJP workers and leaders on the commendable performance in the civic polls,” he tweeted.
BJP president Amit Shah said his party had captured 67 of the 129 civic bodies in the State, “and improved its performance of 2010 when it had won elections in 49 civic bodies”.