Winners confined to Rajasthan resorts as power battle begins after municipal polls

The votes have been counted in Rajasthan’s civic elections, but thousands of newly elected councillors remain out of public view.Thousands of newly-elected councillors from the BJP, Congress and independent ranks were reportedly moved to hotels and resorts to secure their support ahead of the mayor and chairperson elections on September 21. In several places, they were asked to surrender their mobile phones and watched the counting from hotel rooms.

Some were not even allowed to collect their victory certificates, which were received by their election agents.A FRACTURED VERDICTOf 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, they crossed the majority mark on their own.The verdict has made every councillor important in the contest to form civic boards.

Where the BJP or Congress is short by one or two seats, independents could decide who takes control.Both parties fear their councillors could be approached by rivals. The elected representatives have therefore been kept away from rival camps and, in many cases, from their own wards.WINNERS STAY, LOSERS LEAVEThe exercise has not been limited to party councillors. Winning independents and rebels considered important to the numbers game have also been housed in 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, while the winners stayed behind.The contrast was visible outside a hotel in Jaipur.Independent candidates had arrived there in luxury buses after polling. Once the results came in, those who lost were asked to leave and were later seen sitting under a tree outside the hotel, waiting for their own vehicles.The winners remained inside.COUNCILLORS MOVED ACROSS CITIESSome 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 rival parties.In Sagwara municipality in Dungarpur district, Congress councillors were reportedly taken to Mount Abu, while their BJP counterparts were moved to Udaipur.A similar exercise was reported in Sikar.

Congress councillors were first assembled at a marriage garden and later taken outside the city, while BJP councillors were reportedly moved to Jaipur.Reports of such confinement have emerged from several other civic bodies. Parties have largely kept the hotels and the locations of their councillors secret.The elected representatives are being taken by bus to civic offices for their oath-taking ceremonies and returned to the resorts afterward.CONGRESS ALLEGES POLICE INTERVENTIONThe 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.Police have not responded to the allegations.With the mayor and chairperson elections due on September 21, many of Rajasthan’s 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.- EndsPublished By: Aprameya RaoPublished On: Sep 15, 2026 21:05 IST