After the setback in Panchayati Raj polls, the Congress in Rajasthan bagged a good performance in the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) elections with wins in 619 wards.

In the results declared on Sunday for 1,775 ward councillor posts of 50 ULBs in 12 districts, Congress won 619 wards, compared to the BJP’s 548.

BJP also fell behind Independents, who had won 596  wards. Other parties in the fray included the Bahujan Samaj Party (7), Communist Party of India (2), CPI [Marxist] (2) and Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) (1) as stated by the State Election Commission spokesperson.

In the recent Panchayati Raj polls, BJP had managed to elect Zila Pramukhs in 12 Zila Parishads while Congress managed just five Zila Pramukhs.

Addressing a press conference (Sunday evening), Congress state president Govind Singh Dotasra said that the results indicate that the BJP is growing “away” from the urban electorate, falling way behind Independent votes.

He said that of the total 50 ULBs, 43 Nagar Palika and 7 Nagar Parishad, “Congress has won a majority in 17 and as far as Independents are concerned, most of them are Congress-backed” and claimed that Congress will be successful in forming a Board in over 30 of the 50 ULBs which went to polls.

As many as 2,622 polling booths were set up for the election. A total of 14.32 lakh voters were eligible to exercise their franchise while 7,249 candidates were in the fray.

The notification for the election to the post of chairman in these local bodies is set to be issued on December 14. The voting for the post of chairman will be held on December 20, while for the vice-chairman post, it will be conducted on December 21.

Asked about the high number of Independents winning the polls, Dotasra said that “with Congress being the ruling party, every second candidate was hopeful of a party ticket and in its absence, they contested as an Independent.”

He said that as part of Congress’ strategy, it fielded Independents in several places, rather than distributing symbols, such as in Bharatpur, and “this strategy succeeded”. BJP leaders did not comment on their losses.