Bharatpur/Alwar, Sept. 22 -- The results of elections to municipal chairperson and mayor posts in eastern Rajasthan have produced a mixed picture, with the BJP securing key urban bodies in Alwar, Bharatpur and Dholpur, while the Congress retained or captured important positions in Dausa and Karauli. The results underlined growing importance of independents in determining control of civic bodies, with party strengths in several municipalities falling short of the majority mark. In Bharatpur, BJP's Anuradha Singh was elected unopposed as mayor of the Bharatpur Municipal Corporation after independent candidate Vichitra Singh withdrew her nomination. Anuradha's election is significant as the 65-member corporation has only 20 BJP councillors, while independents account for 36 seats and Congress has seven. The majority mark is 33. Vichitra Singh had entered the mayoral contest as an independent candidate with Congress support. Her withdrawal on September 18 left Anuradha as the sole candidate. In Alwar, the BJP managed to secure the mayor's post despite falling short of a majority in the 65-member corporation. BJP's Sumanlata Agarwal defeated Congress candidate Kamlesh Sharma, polling 42 votes against 23. The BJP had 28 councillors and the Congress 23, leaving both parties dependent on independents and the BSP councillor to cross the majority mark of 33. The Alwar result highlighted the role of non-party councillors in the indirect mayoral elections. With 13 independents and one BSP councillor in the corporation, neither of the two major parties could elect its candidate without additional support. Dholpur produced an even more unusual outcome. Girish Kumar Garg was elected unopposed as chairperson of the Dholpur Municipal Council despite not having contested the ward elections. His election came under Rajasthan's provision allowing an eligible person from outside the elected council to contest the chairperson's post - a system often referred to as the "hybrid" model. The 60-member Dholpur council had 27 Congress councillors, 11 BJP councillors, 19 independents and three BSP councillors. The majority mark was 31. Garg emerged as the lone candidate after six candidates withdrew their nominations. Reports said the BJP-backed Garg secured the support required to cross the majority threshold. The outcome was significant because Congress had emerged as the single largest group with 27 councillors but could not convert that strength into the chairperson's post. Congress councillor Satyadev Kasana, who had contested from Ward 59, alleged that the party had failed to provide him its official symbol and accused the party leadership of having "sold out" its winning councillors. The allegation could not be independently verified. Garg, meanwhile, is to be inducted as a councillor within the prescribed period under the provision governing the election of the civic body's head. In Dausa, Congress's Rekha Gurjar was elected chairperson of the Dausa Municipal Council. She defeated BJP's Kavita Gurjar by 31 votes to 24. The result came despite Congress having 24 councillors, BJP 17 and independents 14 in the 55-member council, meaning neither major party had a majority on its own. The Dausa results have otherwise remained mixed. Of the 11 urban local bodies in the district, ward-level results had shown a close contest between the BJP and Congress, with independents emerging as an important factor in board formation. In Karauli, Congress candidate Sunil Saini defeated BJP's Virendra Sharma for the chairperson's post by five votes....