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Karnataka’s ruling JD(S)-Congress combine has raced past principal opposition BJP in the urban local body elections in the State.
Both the JD(S) and the Congress had fought the elections independently. Of the total 2,664 seats, Congress won 982; the BJP 929 seats; the JD(S) 375; and independents, BSP and others together bagged 376 seats.
Of the 205 local bodies across 22 districts which went to the polls on August 29, the Congress won a majority in 11 districts, the JD(S) in three districts, and their coalition is set to capture power in three other districts.
Congress elated
Reacting to the results of the polls, a jubilant Dinesh Gundu Rao, State Congress chief, said: “The result has proven wrong what was in the public domain. The party was written off, was told that it was confused, that it had lost out under a coalition, and that it had been caught in a bind.”
“Yes, our coalition partner, the (JDS), is strong in few districts and we have maintained major districts and have made inroads into Uttara Kannada, and Mumbai-Karnataka districts.”
Rao added: “In the future, with our combined effort and strength, can decimate the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls. We want to say Congress has won. Our coalition (JDS-Congress) has done well as well.”
Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy said: “We as a coalition [JD(S)-Congress] have done well. We are happy with the way the coalition parties have performed. BJP keeps saying that the coalition won’t last but people have proved them wrong.”
Money power won: BSY
BJP State unit President BS Yeddyurappa said the partnership between the Congress and the JD(S) had hurt his party’s chances. “The BJP should have won more seats but we could not perform the way we wanted to because of the Congress-JD(S) coalition.”
He added: “We have substantially increased our tally in hundreds of urban local bodies across the State. This is proof that the BJP continues to enjoy the support and confidence of the people.” The saffron party accused the JD(S)-Congress combine of blatant misuse of official machinery and rampant use of money power. “We have successfully fought against this joint onslaught of the two unprincipled parties,” Yeddyurappa said.
“It has been a decisive victory for us in the Shimoga City Corporation. In two other corporations — Mysuru and Tumkur — we have emerged as the largest single party. In Udupi and Bagalkot City Municipal councils, the BJP has nearly swept the polls.”
In the Old Mysore region, the BJP made inroads into Hassan, a stronghold of the JDS and the Congress, by winning 13 seats in local bodies.
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