Rajasthan Local Body elections: BJP secures 7th straight term in Udaipur, wins absolute majority with 53 wards

Udaipur (Rajasthan) [India], September 15 (ANI): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) registered a decisive victory in the Udaipur Municipal Corporation elections, capturing 53 out of 80 wards to form the municipal board with an absolute majority for the seventh consecutive term. 
Congress finished a distant second, securing 23 seats across the civic body.
A winning BJP candidate attributed the success to collective effort and state leadership following the result announcement.
"Today, in a Rajasthan city where the BJP has formed a board with an absolute majority for the seventh time in a row. On this occasion, I recognise the great teamwork shown by the respected Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma, our state president Madan Rathore, and both of our local MLAs," he said.
Earlier on Monday, the Bharatiya Janata Party secured a resounding victory in the Rajasthan urban local body elections, winning the Jaipur Municipal Corporation board with 78 seats, while independent candidates emerged as key players in several other civic bodies where no party has secured a clear majority. 
Out of the 150 wards in the Jaipur Municipal Corporation, results for 146 wards have been declared so far. The BJP has won 78 wards, while the Congress has secured 53 seats and independent candidates have won 15 wards.
The final picture in the four remaining wards will be clear after re-polling at five booths due to technical issues with Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). 
Jaipur District Collector Sandesh Nayak said the EVM results could not be retrieved from booths in Ward 9 (Booth No. 111), Ward 18 (Booth No. 235), Ward 25 (Booth No. 343), and Ward 34 (Booth Nos. 477 and 484).
Notably, BJP narrowly defeated the Congress by a margin of less than one percentage point in the recently concluded Rajasthan urban local body elections, securing 35.18 per cent of the total votes polled across 309 civic bodies.
The BJP received 37,35,567 votes, while the Congress secured 36,35,952 votes, with a difference of 99,615 votes between the two parties. The winning margin stood at 0.94 per cent. (ANI)