Benagluru: As the BJP is all set to grab power in BBMP after winning 100 seats, the ruling Congress suffer their biggest setback after the 2013 elections.
Siddaramaiah has called for an emergency meeting of his close aids to discuss the situation.
The Bharatiya Janata Party won 100 seats, the Congress is in 75 and the JD( S) in 14 in the 198-member council of the greater Bengaluru Municipal Corporation. The final results are expected to be out by 2pm.
KPCC President, G Parameswar said that the Congress party accepts the people’s mandate. “We had approached the people with the blue print to develop Bengaluru city, but people has rejected Congress. This is not our party’s defeat as we are close to the victory line,” he added.
BJP chief Amit Shah tweeted, “I congratulate our karyakartas for victory in Bengaluru civic polls & also thank people of Bengaluru for showing faith in BJP”
The century-old BBMP was expanded in 2007 by including seven city municipal councils, one town municipal council and 111 surrounding villages to increase civic wards to 198 from 100.
Delimitation of the wards on the basis of the 2011 population census with 50 percent of them reserved for women have forced political parties to field wives or relatives of former corporators as contestants in many wards.
In all, 1,120 candidates, including 197, 198 and 187 from BJP, Congress and JD-S respectively, a dozen from regional outfits like Vatala Chaluvali Paksha, AIADMK and Socialist Democratic Party of India and 399 Independents, including many rebels contested in the bitterly fought civic election.
In the previous five-year term (2010-2015), the BJP ruled the BBMP for the first time by winning in 116 wards, as against 62 wards by the Congress, 14 by JD-S and eight by Independents.
(IANS)
