Rajasthan’s civic election results have brought a crop of young faces into local politics. Giving the new generation a visible presence in local bodies across the state, candidates aged only 21 and 22 have won Jaipur and Alwar municipal elections.
The results from 309 urban local bodies have brought several young winners into the picture. Many of them are entering elected politics at the beginning of their careers. They include 21-year-old Faiz Hasan from Jaipur, 21-year-old journalist Neha Sharma from Alwar and 22-year-old Suman Bhati from Jaipur.
In Alwar district’s Thanagazi municipality, BJP candidate Sharma won the Ward 6 election at the age of 21. She defeated the Congress candidate by 101 votes.
According to the party, she recorded the biggest winning margin among BJP candidates in the municipality. She secured the seat in a razor-sharp contest.
Sharma entered politics after working as a journalist. She has worked with different local news organisations before contesting the municipal election. Her victory has made her one of the youngest women to win a seat in the Rajasthan civic polls.
Her entry into the municipality also brings a young representative with experience in local journalism into the elected body.
Twenty-one-year-old Hasan entered the municipal corporation as a Congress candidate. He won from Ward 71 and defeated an independent candidate and the BJP nominee.
He received 5,426 votes. Independent candidate Mohammad Salim finished second with 5,256 votes. BJP candidate Nisha Gaud stood third.
The margin between Hasan and Salim was 170 votes, making the contest a close one. Hasan’s victory has put another 21-year-old face into Jaipur’s local politics.
Another young Congress candidate, 22-year-old Suman Bhati, won from Jaipur’s Ward 72. She defeated independent candidate Rachna Kalosiya by more than 2,000 votes.
She is from Jaipur’s Jhalana slum area and has been associated with the Congress student organisation NSUI for a long time. Her political journey through student activities has now taken her into the Jaipur municipal corporation.
Her win, along with Hasan’s result from the neighbouring ward, has given Jaipur two young elected representatives in their early twenties.
Local elections include candidates with years of political or organisational experience, but this time Rajasthan changed the trend.
The victories of Sharma, Hasan and Bhati offer three different routes into local politics. Their victories mean municipal bodies in parts of Rajasthan will now have elected representatives from the Gen-Z generation. The results from Jaipur and Alwar have given these young winners an early opportunity to take part in local governance and build their political careers.
Bureau Report
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