Bengaluru: The results of the local body elections in Karnataka have given the Congress a much-required momentum, as the top leadership of the party, including Rahul Gandhi and Priynaka Gandhi Vadra, has expressed its happinness over Congress’ good show in the polls.
At the same time, BJP insiders have said that the party is taking the poll setback seriously, though it is trying to downplay the results and rubbishing the claims of the Congress.
The election results for 58 Urban Local Bodies (ULB), 57 gram panchayats and bypolls to 9 wards (ULB) across Karnataka threw mixed results on Thursday for the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress, with both claiming victory, saying that they have the majority and confidence of the people.
Of the total 58 Urban Local Bodies across 20 districts of the state, the Congress has managed to win 501 wards while the ruling BJP won 433 wards. Independents have bagged 195 wards and the JD(S) has managed to win 45 wards. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won 1 seat, the Social Democratic Party 6 and the AIMIM 1.
“In the elections held for 1,187 seats of local bodies across the state, the Congress has won more than 500 seats, the BJP has managed to win 433 seats while the JD(S) won 45 seats. More than 100 local bodies have thrown up fractured mandate. There is a wave for Congress in the state,” Congress leader Siddaramaiah had said on Thursday.
According to sources in the BJP, the party is considering the poll results as an alarming bell. The setback in BJP stronghold districts are being taken seriously, especially in Belagavi, which is considered the second capital of the state. The district has 18 Assembly constituencies. As many as 13 BJP legislators have been elected from here.
The setback in the local body elections in Belagavi right after the defeat in the MLC polls has become a cause of worry for the party. The BJP got 109 seats out of 301, while the Congress won 97 seats. As many as 94 Independent candidates have also won this time from the district.
Siddaramaiah claimed that this result shows that people are dejected with BJP’s misadministration.
“The results have shown that they can’t win elections with money power,” he said.
State Congress President D.K. Shivakumar stated that the results of the local body elections reflected the mood of the people of Karnataka.
“This is the victory of Congress and the people of the state. Not just the rural people, but those in the urban areas have also shown their support to the party,” he stated.
Reacting to Siddaramaiah’s claims, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai stated that Congress has managed to win a few city corporation seats where minorities are in more number.
“Let them not rejoice. We have won more gram panchayat seats. The results are also favourable in city corporations. BJP is going to come back to power in 2023, let Siddaramaiah and Congress not worry about that,” he stated.
