Winners confined to Rajasthan resorts as power battle begins after municipal polls
With the mayor and chairperson elections due on September 21, many of Rajasthan's newly elected councillors remain out of public view. For now, parties see them less as representatives of their wards and more as numbers needed to control civic boards.
The votes have been counted in Rajasthan’s civic elections, but thousands of newly elected councillors remain out of public view.
Councillors from the BJP, Congress and independent ranks have reportedly been moved to hotels and resorts as parties scramble to secure the numbers needed to control civic boards.
The confinement began soon after polling. In several places, candidates were reportedly asked to surrender their mobile phones before being taken to undisclosed hotels to prevent rival parties from contacting them.
Many followed the counting from their hotel rooms rather than their wards or counting centres. Some were not allowed to leave even to collect their victory certificates, which were received by their election agents. They are expected to remain at the hotels until the mayoral and chairperson elections on September 21.
A FRACTURED VERDICT
Of the 309 urban local bodies that went to the polls, the BJP secured a majority in 85 and the Congress in 45.
Independents hold the balance in five municipal corporations, 18 municipal councils and 122 municipalities. In 34 local bodies, independents collectively crossed the majority mark.
The verdict has made individual councillors crucial to the contest to form civic boards. Where the BJP or Congress is short by one or two seats, independents could decide who takes control.
The councillors have therefore been kept away from rival camps and, in many cases, their own wards.
WINNERS STAY, LOSERS LEAVE
The exercise has not been limited to candidates fielded by political parties. Independents and rebels considered important to the numbers game were also taken to hotels and offered meals, entertainment and other comforts.
But the hospitality depended on their electoral value.
Before the results, candidates expected to win were treated as guests. Once the results were declared, those who lost were sent home. The winners, and those who could help a party form a board, stayed behind.
COUNCILLORS MOVED ACROSS CITIES
Some councillors were reportedly taken out of their cities in the name of religious visits and other programmes to prevent defections, horse-trading and contact with other parties.
In Sagwara municipality in Dungarpur district, Congress councillors were reportedly taken to Mount Abu, while BJP councillors were moved to Udaipur.
A similar exercise was reported in Sikar. Congress candidates were first assembled at a marriage garden and later taken outside the city, while BJP candidates were reportedly moved to Jaipur.
Similar reports have emerged from several other civic bodies. Parties have largely kept the names of the hotels and the locations of their councillors secret.
CONGRESS ALLEGES POLICE INTERVENTION
The battle for numbers has also led to allegations of police intervention.
In Alwar, police allegedly took away an elected councillor, prompting local traders to shut the market in protest. The councillor later travelled to Delhi to meet Union Minister Bhupender Yadav.
The Congress has accused police of entering hotels where its councillors are staying and taking some of them away. It has also alleged raids on the homes of independent councillors.
With the mayoral and chairperson elections due on September 21, many newly elected councillors remain separated from the people who elected them. For the parties, their immediate value lies not in the wards they represent, but in the numbers they bring to the board vote.