Kota: Internal dissent in both BJP and Congress has turned Kota and Bundi’s local body elections into fractured, multi-cornered fights, with dozens of rebel candidates threatening to split core vote banks and derail party strategies built around straight contests.In Kota’s municipal wards, 13 BJP rebels and five Congress rebels are contesting as independents after ticket disputes, weakening both parties ward by ward.In ward 1, Roopchand Meena is in the fray as an independent after being denied a BJP ticket in favour of Sheetal Prakash, creating a triangular contest with Congress candidate Jyotu Prakash. In ward 2, in Madan Dilawar’s Ramganjmandi assembly constituency, independent Maya Gurja has turned what was expected to be a direct contest between Congress’s Devbai Gurjar and BJP’s Paras Kanwar into a three-way race, with the Gurjar vote likely to be split. Ward 3 is headed for a four-way contest between BJP’s Sosar Bai, Congress’s Anita Bhil, and independents Namrata Meena and Muskan Meena, who are running aggressive campaigns against the official nominees. In ward 71, independent Vandana has made the contest triangular alongside Congress candidate Savita Suwalka and BJP candidate Meenakshi Sen.Bundi has seen a similar breakdown across its 60 wards, with dissident leaders from both parties filing independent nominations after being denied tickets. Ward 16 has the heaviest independent presence, with six independents among eight candidates, all from the Congress, complicating Congress candidate Surendra Bhardwaj’s prospects and putting BJP’s Sushil Mehta, a two-time party city president, in a stronger position. In ward 54, Youth Congress leader and former councillor Devraj Gochar is contesting as an independent after being denied a ticket, tightening the race for Congress’s Parasram Gurjar and BJP’s Manphool Kirad.In ward 27, former BJP councillor Mukesh Madhwani, a party worker and councillor for 20 years, is contesting as an independent after being denied a ticket, challenging BJP’s Bharat Sharma while potentially helping Congress’s Shivam Gurjar; another independent, Hariom Gurjar, is also in the race and is expected to split Gurjar votes. In ward 14, sitting BJP councillor Meena Kumari, wife of former councillor Karnashankar Saini, is contesting as an independent after being denied a ticket, turning the fight into a three-cornered contest against BJP’s Rajesh Sharma and Congress’s Aashish Kumar.Other independent candidates include former Congress councillor Ankit Kumar, Ishan Ali from former chairperson Sadakt Ali’s family, Shyamsunder Sharma, and Nirmal Singh, mother of former BJP councillor Naveen Singh.
