CM Bhajan Lal intensifies Rajasthan civic poll campaign as Congress targets his roadshows

JAIPUR: Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma is touring Rajasthan extensively ahead of the two-phase urban local body elections, campaigning across several cities in an effort to cover as many civic bodies as possible.

Sharma held roadshows and campaign events in Bhilwara, Bikaner, Ajmer and Jodhpur last week before visiting Alwar and his home district of Bharatpur on Monday. He is scheduled to campaign in Pali, Kota and Jaipur over the next two days.

During the campaign, Sharma has repeatedly said the civic polls will pave the way for a “triple-engine government”, with the BJP in power at the Centre, the state and urban local bodies. He said development projects are being carried out in every Assembly constituency and Rajasthan is progressing rapidly under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership.

The Congress criticised Sharma’s extensive campaign. Former chief minister Ashok Gehlot said it was the first time a Rajasthan chief minister had to campaign so aggressively in urban body elections.

“It is a matter of concern that the chief minister has had to hold roadshows. This is the first time a chief minister is conducting roadshows during local body elections. It is not an achievement but his biggest failure,” Gehlot said.

Gehlot claimed Sharma would not have needed such an extensive campaign if his government had delivered tangible results during its two-and-a-half years in office.

Meanwhile, an alliance between Hanuman Beniwal’s Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) and Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has added a new dimension to the civic poll contest. Owaisi addressed a rally in Jaipur on Sunday as part of the alliance’s campaign.

Both leaders said they aimed to create a third political alternative to the BJP and Congress, with the alliance also being seen as an early move ahead of the 2028 Rajasthan Assembly elections.

“Politics in Rajasthan has always remained in the hands of the BJP and Congress. We and the RLP have been treated like football, sometimes at the feet of one party and sometimes the other,” Owaisi said.

Beniwal called for Jat-Muslim political unity and said the alliance would jointly raise public issues besides contesting elections.

Campaigning for the first phase ended at 6 pm on Monday. Voting will be held in 5,425 wards across 162 urban bodies on September 9, while the remaining bodies will vote on September 11. Elections are being held across 309 urban bodies, with counting for both phases scheduled for September 14.