A downhill ride for Congress in 5 yrs

The Congress,which had got 38.95 per cent vote share in the municipal corporation elections in 2005,performed better in the district panchayat polls that year (45.76 per cent). In the taluka panchayat polls,its share was 44.14 per cent.

In February 2008,the Congress’ vote share in the election to the three municipal corporations,fell to 32.55 per cent and further to 28.83 per cent in the municipality polls. In the taluka panchayat polls,it notched 48.96 per cent votes.

Against this,the BJP got 48.53 per cent votes in the municipal corporation elections in 2005,which rose to 54.66 per cent in February 2008. In the taluka polls that year,it notched 44.95 per cent votes.

In the civic polls of 2010,the Congress vote share dipped to an all-time low of 30.16 per cent while the BJP notched an all-time high of 54.97 per cent .

Even in 1995,the Congress could win only 37 seats of the 468 seats in the six municipal corporations,115 of the 761 seats in district panchayats,and 902 of the 3,785 seats in the taluka panchayats.

That year,the BJP had captured 18 of the 19 district panchayats.