The Congress on Monday, September 3, went head to head with the BJP in the urban local body (ULB) elections in Karnataka but was set to gain control of a majority of the ULBs with a post-poll tie-up with ruling coalition partner, JD(S).
According to the state election commission, the Congress has secured 966 seats and the BJP has 910 seats in the elections held on Saturday. The JD(S) has won 373 seats and the others the rest of the seats. Despite being partners in the coalition government at the state, the Congress and the JD(S) contested the polls separately but, they have already declared that they would tie up after the ULB elections. Combined, the Congress and the JD(S) have won 1,339 seats, beating the BJP by a clear margin. The combined results come as a sigh of relief to the Congress and the JD(S) coalition government at the state as the ULB polls were considered as a crucial test for the coalition government. This could very well be the index for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Results for 2,628 seats out of 2,709 have been declared so far. The BJP was in the lead in Bagalkote, Belagavi, Chamarajanagar, Chitradurga, Dakshina Kannada, Davangere and Udupi districts, while the Congress moved ahead in the Ballari, Bidar, Gadag, Haveri, Kalaburagi, Koppal, Mysuru, Raichur, Uttara Kannada, and Yadgir districts and the JD(S) lead in its usual strongholds, including Hassan, Mandya and Tumakuru.
“We the party to perform better than the present results. The results of this election are not an indication of any future elections, particularly the Lok Sabha elections… where the BJP is going to win with a thumping majority,” said BJP state president BS Yeddyurappa.
Meanwhile, endorsing BSY’s views, senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge too, said that these elections are based on minor issues and local candidates and hence, don’t hold much significance.
The elections were held for 3 city corporations, 29 city municipal councils, 52 town municipal councils and 20 town panchayats, the polling took place across 2,633 wards of the state — spread over 29 city municipalities, 53 town municipalities and 23 town panchayats and in 135 wards of three city corporations. Polls to Kodagu urban local bodies were withheld due to the recent deluge in the district. A record average of 67.5 per cent voter turnout was registered.
Victory celebrations turn ugly
As many as eight people were injured in an acid attack on Monday during a victory procession of Congress candidate Inayathullah Khan in Tumakur. The injured were immediately rushed to a hospital where they were given treatment. It is yet unclear who attacked the rally, however, Tumakur SP Divya Gopinath has said that the substance used in the attack was a low intensity acid and it comes across that someone within the crowd sprayed it, following which a few felt some sort of discomfort. The doctors treating the victims have said that it could be a low intensity acid like the one used to clean bathrooms. All the eight have suffered minor injuries. Police sources said that no complaint has been lodged so far.
(PTI)
