‘Rural election results will fathom depth of factionalism’

The third and final phase of the Zila Parishad (ZP) and Panchyat Samiti (PS) elections in six districts of Rajasthan is over and now all eyes are on the results which will be announced on Saturday.

Though elections took place in just 6 out of 33 districts in the state, but the battle is interestingly poised as the polls happened at a time when the infighting both in Congress and BJP have resurfaced and 4 out of 6 districts are politically volatile.

As per observers, the results will spell the level and depth of factionalism in both the parties.

The elections took place in Jaipur Jodhpur, Bharatpur, Dausa, Sawai Madhopur and Sirohi where the total seats of ZP and PS are 200 and 1,564 respectively.

As per the assembly seats, Congress looks in a very strong position, moreso, as the grand old party is in power in the state.

The State president of Congress Govind S Dotasara said the state government has worked for all sections of the society so it will be a landslide win for the party.

While even as the BJP is in the Opposition currently, it had won the Jaipur, Jodhpur, Bharatpur and Sirohi ZPs in the previous election held in 2015... so the saffron party cannot be ruled out completely.

Besides this, the BJP was ahead of Congress in ZP and PS elections in 21 districts which took place last year where BJP had formed the board in 12 districts out of 21 and Congress made it in just 5.

Contrary to the belief that BJP is weak in the rural areas and voters tend to support the ruling party, the party’s state president Satish Poonia is hopeful that voters will repeat their voting pattern, he emphasised while saying that people were disappointed with the Gehlot government.

According to political observers, BJP looks in a good position in Jaipur, Bharatpur and Sirohi, while Congress has good chances in Dausa and Sawai Madhopur.