New Delhi: The Congress got another shot in the arm by improving its tally considerably in the local body elections of Rajasthan. On Tuesday, Congress won all the four zila parishad seats and also 16 of the 27 panchayat samiti seats and six nagar palika seats, for which bypolls were held. The ruling BJP had to remain content with 10 panchayat samiti seats although it won seven nagar palika wards. The BJP could not retain even a single of the four zila parishads. The bypolls for 27 panchayat samitis of 19 districts, 14 nagar palikas of 12 districts and four zila parishads were held on December 17.
Speaking to this newspaper the Rajasthan Congress chief Mr. Sachin Pilot said, “The countdown has begun for the BJP government to go. These elections were just a precursor to the Assembly elections that will be held next year. The BJP government is anti-farmer and anti-people.” Incidentally, the state Congress headquarters in Jaipur has put up an electronic signboard that has a countdown timer showing the number of days, hours and minutes left for the incumbent government. There are two parliamentary byelections also coming up in Rajasthan in Ajmer and Alwar where sitting MPs have passed away. The Congress is hopeful in snatching these two seats also from the BJP. Rajasthan is one of the states on which the Congress is banking heavily. It is scheduled to go to polls along with Chattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh in November next year. The party feels that anti-incumbency should help them.
