The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday won 19 of the 37 panchayat and municipal seats that went up for by-polls in Rajasthan, reported PTI. While the Congress finished a close second with 14 seats, independent candidates bagged the remaining four. This was the first by-elections held in Rajasthan after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the demonetisation decision.

The by-polls for 20 districts were held on November 29. The elections were held for three zilla parishad seats, 10 municipal seats and 24 panchayat samiti seats. Among the zilla parishad seats, BJP candidates won in Banswara and Bhilwara, and Congress won the Jalore seat, reported PTI.

Of the 24 panchayat samiti seats, the BJP won 12 and the Congress won 10. Independent candidates won two seats. The BJP won five of the 10 municipal seats, while the Congress won three and the independent nominees got two.

Rajasthan BJP Vice President Bhajan Lal told PTI that the victory shows there is no “adverse sentiment” towards the decision to denotify Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. Pradesh Congress Committee President Sachin Pilot, on the other hand, did not see the result as a sign of public acceptance of the demonetisation move. He told the news agency that by-polls usually go in favour of the ruling party. However, Pilot added that the voting percentage of Congress has improved.

Earlier this week, the BJP had won 109 of the 126 seats in the Gujarat municipal and district panchayat bypolls in 16 districts. The party had also swept the first phase of the Maharashtra civic polls.