Independents hold sway

Jaipur: Independent candidates will have a major say in the formation of boards in several municipal bodies. At least in 22 local bodies, Independents will decide the fate of the board chairman, while at four local bodies, they can elect their own chairman. Reports said that Independents won 385 seats out of 2,105 seats in 49 local body polls.

The best performance from Independents candidates has come from Bharatpur Municipal Corporation, Pilani municipality (Jhunjhunu), Roopwas Nagar and Mahuwa Nagar. Here the Independents can strike a major political deal with either of the party or can elect their own leader.

Bharatpur’s 65-seat local body has 22 seats won by the Independents, while BJP and Congress won 22 and 18, respectively, leaving both the camps dependent on Independents.

Pilani municipality has scripted history with Independents holding 2/3 majority. They won 30 out of 35 wards leaving the remaining three wards for BJP and two for Congress. Red-faced over the debacle, Congress MLA J P Chandelia from Pilani gave a raw excuse that party doesn’t hold any importance in the local body polls but what matters is credentials of the candidates.

“Congress will form the board with the help of Independent candidates in Pilani as most of them were Congress rebels or our supporters,” Chandelia expressed confidence of Independents supporting Congress chairman nominee.

Roopwas and Kanod municipality in Bharatpur and Udaipur districts, respectively, have the majority of Independent candidates leaving both the Congress and the BJP fence sitters. Sources said that Independents here are in no mood to be led either by the BJP or the Congress.

The absence of clear mandate to any party in the industrial town Bhiwadi municipal council in Alwar has also shift the focus on independent candidates.

Most of the independent's candidates are either BJP or Congress rebels. “Both the parties have started reaching out to the independents to form their board. The independents always have a strong tendency to align with its parent political body. In the coming days, both the parties will engage in the horse trading or hosting them at some resort till to make them unavailable for the opposition party,” said a political analyst.