Opinion Congress smiles,Gowda happy too
Congress leaders found it hard to hide their smiles as results of elections to 207 urban local bodies in Karnataka came in
Congress leaders found it hard to hide their smiles as results of elections to 207 urban local bodies in Karnataka came in on Monday. The belief that the party would be the most likely to gain from five years of misrule by the BJP was proven right in the polls which were widely considered a precursor to the coming state Assembly elections.
Of the 4,867 wards in the 207 urban local bodies,the Congress won 1,916 seats more than twice the BJPs tally of 899,and that of the Janata Dal (Secular)s 898 seats. The Congress wrested control of five of the seven city corporations (Bangalore City did not go to polls). It also won majority of the seats in 21 of the 30 districts,indicating a strong wind blowing in its favour ahead of the Assembly polls.
Apart from signalling re-emergence of the Congress after a spate of defeats in polls of all kinds,the local elections also re-emphasised that former prime minister H D Deve Gowdas JD (S) is still going strong in the south of the state. The JD(S) won majority of the seats in five districts,but suffered a setback in party chief H D Kumaraswamys home ground Ramanagaram,where the city council was wrested by the Congress.
The ruling BJP clearly bore the brunt of anti-incumbency,misrule and a three-way division of the party in the last five years,winning majority of the seats in only three of the 30 districts. Former BJP chief minister and Lingayat strongman B S Yeddyurappas party,the Karnataka Janata Party,whose performance was closely watched,hurt the BJP in at least five strongholds,splitting votes or winning a decisive chunk of seats mostly helping the Congress. The KJP won 272 seats in all.
The second party to emerge from the BJP womb in the past five years,the BSR Congress of former ministers B Sreeramulu and G Janardhan Reddy,fared poorly,drawing a nil in home turf Bellary.
Despite the victory,it would be foolhardy of the Congress to consider the Assembly elections as being in its kitty,given its 2007 experience,when it had won the maximum urban local body seats only to end up as the second largest party in a hung Assembly after the 2008 polls.
Johnson is a senior assistant editor based in Bangalore
johnson.ta@expressindia.com
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