Jaipur: After mayoral elections in seven municipal corporations Monday, focus has now shifted to the election of deputy mayors Tuesday, with BJP, Congress, independents and rebel councillors set for another round of voting and negotiations over numbers.BJP won six of the seven mayoral posts, while Congress won Bikaner. Deputy mayor elections will be significant in corporations where party-wise strength does not directly translate into a majority for the second key post.In Ajmer, Congress has 37 councillors, BJP 32 and independents 11. BJP secured 43 votes in the mayoral election. “The deputy mayor contest will test whether the additional councillors who backed Anamika Sharma continue to support the party,” said a BJP source.Pali has 29 Congress councillors, 21 BJP councillors and 15 independents. Congress’s official mayoral candidate received only three votes, while rebel candidate Rajbala Hingad, who contested as an independent, secured 29 votes. “BJP won the mayoral election with 33 votes. The voting pattern among Congress councillors and those who supported Hingad will be closely watched,” said a BJP worker in Raipur.In Alwar, BJP has 28 councillors, Congress 23 and 13 are independents. BJP was supported by independents and a BSP councillor in the mayoral election. The deputy mayor poll will indicate whether they continue to offer support.Udaipur has 53 BJP councillors, and three independents supported the party in the mayoral election. BJP’s Paras Singhvi received 55 votes, giving the party a clear advantage ahead of the deputy mayor election.In Bikaner, Congress secured 50 votes in the mayoral election and also has a majority of councillors. The party will seek to retain its numbers in the deputy mayor election.Bharatpur has 36 independent councillors, compared with 20 BJP and seven Congress councillors. BJP’s Anuradha Singh was elected unopposed as mayor. The independents are therefore expected to be central to the deputy mayor election. A BJP functionary said, “Deputy mayor results will establish whether the voting equations seen in Monday’s mayoral elections continue into the second round of elections across the corporations.”
