JAIPUR: The ruling BJP has fully shifted into “election mode” ahead of the upcoming panchayat and municipal body elections in Rajasthan.
While the party typically entrusts responsibility for local and three-tier panchayat elections to state-level leaders, for the first time in its history, the BJP has deployed senior leaders and ministers from outside Rajasthan to oversee the urban local body polls.
In a sign of how seriously the BJP is taking the local body polls in Rajasthan, party president Nitin Nabin has appointed former Uttar Pradesh MP Harish Dwivedi as the main election in-charge, alongside several out-of-state co-in-charges to manage strategy and campaign preparations. Maharashtra Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule and Delhi Social Welfare Minister Ravindra Indrajit Singh have been appointed as co-in-charges.
With the aim of strengthening the organisation on the ground and sharpening election strategies at the grassroots level for the upcoming electoral challenge, the BJP’s state unit has also appointed new district in-charges and co-in-charges across all 48 organisational districts.
An official list was released by BJP state general secretary Shravan Singh Bagdi, assigning responsibility for the elections in the districts to a total of 96 senior leaders and office-bearers.
The government led by Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma has completed more than half of its tenure and could face the impact of anti-incumbency. In addition, infighting in the state BJP has often come to the fore in recent times. The BJP is therefore keen to devise a sharp strategy to ensure a strong performance in the rural and urban local body elections.
The state government informed the Rajasthan High Court that urban local body elections will be completed by September 20, followed by panchayat polls by November 15. The polls will factor in 76 newly created municipalities, expanding the total number of urban local bodies from 309 to 385.
Political observers have also noted that although panchayat elections are usually held earlier, this time the BJP has opted to hold the municipal polls first as the ruling party believes it has a stronger hold in urban areas.
The BJP calculates that a strong showing in the urban body polls will create momentum for it to do better in the panchayat elections, where the Congress normally does better due to its strong connect in rural areas.
Over the past two years, the Bhajanlal Sharma-led BJP government had been delaying panchayat and urban local body elections amid fears of a potentially adverse electoral outcome. It had often deferred the elections on one pretext or another and was ultimately forced to announce the schedule after the Rajasthan High Court directed it to do so.
But now the BJP has clearly decided to gear up for the forthcoming municipal and panchayat elections in the desert state.
