Rajasthan Civic Re-Polls: Congress Takes 6 of 9 Wards

Jaipur, September 18, 2026 The Congress won six of the nine wards covered by the re-polling across the Jaipur, Jodhpur and Kota municipal corporations and the Suket Municipal Council in Kota district. The BJP secured the remaining three wards. Re-polling was held on Wednesday at 10 booths after electronic voting machines malfunctioned during the earlier polling, with the fresh results announced on Thursday. The outcome comes amid a wider contest for control of Rajasthan’s urban local bodies, where the BJP did not secure clear majorities in several important municipalities. These included Bharatpur, the home district of Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma, and Pali, the home district of state BJP president Madan Rathore. The re-polling has also pushed back the mayoral and deputy mayoral elections in Jaipur, Jodhpur and Kota, which were earlier scheduled for September 21 and 22. The Congress has also alleged that officials were facilitating horse-trading during the formation of municipal boards and elections for chairpersons and mayors. Former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot alleged on social media that democracy was being “openly plundered” in Rajasthan. He claimed that an IAS officer posted in the Chief Minister’s Office was pressuring district collectors and sub-divisional magistrates to facilitate BJP-backed boards. Gehlot further alleged that the BJP was offering crores of rupees to Independent councillors and those elected on other party symbols. “Councillors who refused to support the BJP were allegedly being threatened or forcibly taken away by the police,” he said. The controversy grew after the Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee’s official social media account reposted Gehlot’s statement and publicly named the officer allegedly involved. The party warned that officials found complicit in the alleged process would face strict action “in due course”. The post was later deleted. Meanwhile, elections for 856 councillor seats across 10 municipal corporations were held in two phases on September 9 and 11. The BJP won 406 seats, the Congress 312, while Independents and smaller parties secured 138 seats. The broader results have produced a fragmented mandate across Rajasthan’s 309 urban local bodies, which went to polls under the state government’s “One State, One Election” initiative. Neither the BJP nor the Congress secured a clear majority in 174 bodies, accounting for around 56% of the total, while the two parties won clear majorities in 135 bodies. The latest re-poll results add another development to the ongoing process of municipal board formation and the election of their office-bearers.