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Karnataka civic polls: BJP retains Belagavi, Congress bags Kalaburagi
The elections in these North Karnataka civic bodies assumed significance as they went to the polls for first time since chief minister Basavaraj Bommai took over the reins of the state government from BS Yediyurappa.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the civic body elections in Belagavi while the Congress secured the municipal corporation in Kalaburgi, leaving a hung house in Hubbali-Dharwad, after the results of the North Karnataka municipal elections were announced on Monday.
As many as 1,100 candidates were in the fray from 195 wards in Belagavi, Hubballi-Dharwad and Kalaburagi as the municipakl corporations went to the polls on Friday.
The BJP won 35 of the 58 wards in Belagavi, while the independent candidates got 12 seats, pushing Congress to the third position with 10 seats. The AIMIM could manage its foot-hold in only one seat.
In Kalaburagi, the Congress won 27 out of 55 wards to emerge as the single-largest party while the BJP got 23 seats to retain its second position, followed by four seats by JDS and one by an independent candidate.
Meanwhile, in Hubballi-Dharwad, of the 82 wards that went to the polls, the BJP bagged 39 seats and Congress 33 while the independent candidates, AIMIM and JDS secures six, three and one seats, respectively.
The civic body elections in these North Karnataka towns assumed significance for conducting the polls for the first time after chief minister Basavaraj Bommai took over the reins of the BJP government in the state from BS Yediyurappa in July.
Taking to Twitter, Bommai congratulated the BJP councillors for their victory and thanked the voters to bringing them back to power in Belagavi. He also dubbed the results a “clean sweep”.
Earlier in the day, Karnataka BJP chief Nalin Kumar Kateel echoed the remarks of Union home minister Amit Shah on winning the assembly elections in 2023 under the leadership of Basavaraj Bommai.
