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Congress trumps ULB polls in Karnataka, says victory a sign of people’s mood
The polls were held for city municipal council wards, town municipal wards and pattana panchayats. In City Municipal Council wards, out of the 116 seats, Congress won 61 seats, while BJP got 67 seats. The JD(S) managed only 12 seats, with 26 seats going to other candidates.
The Congress emerged as the single largest party in elections to 58 urban local bodies in Karnataka, results of which were declared on Thursday. Of the 1,184 wards that were up for election, the opposition party raked in 498 seats, while the ruling party won 437 seats.
The JD(S), however, had to settle for just 45 seats, with “others” clinching the rest of the 204 seats.
In terms of vote share, data from the state election commission showed that Congress received 42.06% of the vote, while the BJP and JD(S) received 36.90% and 3.8%, respectively.
The polls were held for city municipal council wards, town municipal wards and pattana panchayats. In City Municipal Council wards, out of the 116 seats, Congress won 61 seats, while BJP got 67 seats. The JD(S) managed only 12 seats, with 26 seats going to other candidates.
Among the 441 town municipal council wards, the Congress got 201 seats, BJP got 176 seats and JD(S) took 21 seats.
In the 588 wards of the pattana panchayats, the Congress won 236 seats, the BJP got 194 seats and the JD(S) 12 seats, with ‘others’ winning in 135 wards.
According to a PTI report, the Congress retained the Bankapur town municipal council and Guttal town panchayat, in Shiggaon constituency – the home turf of chief minister Basavaraj Bommai.
BJP has also lost urban local bodies in the home turf of ministers like B Sriramulu’s Nayakanahatti town panchayat.
Karnataka pradesh congress committee president DK Shivakumar said that people have expressed their opinion on the government through this election. “The results are the opinion of the people of Karnataka, and they are supporting the Congress. These votes are a witness to the mood of the people in the state. Even though the BJP is power in the state, and their senior leaders and ministers come from these wards, we have won. Take Dharwad, which is the chief minister’s district. In all these places, people have made their voices heard. People have put their faith in us and in the coming days, we will live up to it,” said Shivakumar.
Senior Congress leader and leader of the opposition, Siddaramaiah, said that the results will help the party in the Assembly elections scheduled for 2023. “The results are as per our expectations. People have expressed displeasure with the BJP and their misgovernance. The government is not responding to the people and their problems. Corruption and price hike are increasing. The results show that people are against this government now and the winds are in favour of Congress. We are certain that this helps us in upcoming Assembly elections,” said Siddaramaiah.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai played down the Congress victory claiming the minority votes in these regions were high. “If you look at the numbers, our performance has improved in this election compared to last time, though it should have been higher. We have not won these areas in the past, minorities are around 65% in these areas,” Bommai told reporters.
Meanwhile, Randeep Singh Surjewala, who is in-charge of Congress affairs in Karnataka, congratulated K Shivakumar, the MLAs and all senior leaders of the party. “Their continued hard work and unity in action will bring the Congress back to power in the state and usher in a new era of putting Karnataka as the number one state in development,” he said in a statement, according to PTI.
The local body polls were held amid reports of Bommai’s removal as CM early next year and high inflation.
(With PTI inputs)
