Jaipur, Sep 1 (IANS) The BJP and Congress have placed major emphasis on new faces in the forthcoming Jaipur Municipal Corporation elections 2026, with both parties dropping a large majority of councillors who won in the 2020 polls.

Of the 250 councillors elected in the 2020 Jaipur Greater and Heritage Municipal Corporations, only 43 have received tickets again this time. This means 207 councillors, or 82.8 per cent, have been left out of the electoral race by the two major parties.

The BJP had 139 councillors among the 2020 winners. Of these, only 24 have been given tickets again, while 115 have been denied tickets. The Congress, which had 88 winners in 2020, has repeated only 16 candidates, while 72 have been dropped.

Of the 23 councillors who had won as independents in 2020, three have received tickets from the major parties this time, two from the BJP and one from the Congress.

For the 2026 Rajasthan civic body elections, the BJP had 139 winners from 2020, of whom tickets were repeated for only 24 candidates, while 115 were not repeated.

The Congress had 88 winners in 2020, with 16 receiving repeat tickets and 72 being denied another ticket. Among the 23 independents who had won in 2020, only three were given tickets again, while 20 were not.

Overall, out of 250 winners from the 2020 elections, just 43 (17.2 per cent) received repeat tickets, while 207 (82.8 per cent) were not repeated.

Thus, only 17.2 per cent of the 2020 winners have managed to secure tickets again, while 82.8 per cent have been left out.

One of the major reasons behind the large-scale changes is the delimitation and reorganisation of wards. In 2020, Jaipur had separate Greater and Heritage municipal corporations with a combined 250 wards. The current election is being held for 150 wards. The restructuring has significantly altered the geographical boundaries of many wards.

Areas that previously formed the strongholds of several sitting councillors have been shifted into different wards, weakening the electoral base and claims of some former councillors. At the same time, after five years in office, several councillors have reportedly faced opposition from local residents and party workers, creating pressure on the BJP and Congress to introduce new candidates.

The decision to replace a large number of previous winners reflects the strategy of both major parties to project a fresh image and give opportunities to younger and more active party workers.

There was also pressure within both organisations to reward workers who had remained active at the grassroots level and had been seeking an opportunity to contest. However, replacing such a large number of previous winners also carries the risk of internal rebellion and Independent candidacies, particularly among aspirants who had expected party tickets.

The new candidate lists also include former councillors who have switched political loyalties. Among the previous winners who are contesting on another party’s ticket, four have moved from Congress to BJP, while two have shifted from BJP to Congress.

Similarly, of the three Independent councillors from the 2020 election who have received tickets this time, two are contesting on BJP tickets and one on a Congress ticket. The Jaipur civic election landscape has changed substantially since 2020.

The previous election was conducted for 250 wards across Jaipur Greater and Heritage, whereas the current election is being held for 150 wards following delimitation and reorganisation.

With both BJP and Congress choosing to field a large number of new faces, the election is likely to produce a markedly different political landscape.

The major question now is whether the new candidates can retain the traditional vote bases of the parties and whether the large-scale denial of tickets will trigger rebellion by former councillors and ticket aspirants.

–IANS

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