Karnataka Civic Polls

The shock waves of rebel BS Yeddyurappa’s exit from the BJP could be felt in Karnataka’s municipal polls with the Congress winning up to 1,906 wards at the expense of the saffronites, who lost almost a third of the seats they held. The scale of the BJP’s reverses can be gauged with the party losing power to Congress in Udupi, which it has held almost uninterrupted since 1968. Barring a brief interval in 1985, the BJP has not lost the major educational and religious centre till now.
Yeddyurappa’s KJP won just 274 wards, not doing too well even in his home district of Shimoga. However, it damaged the BJP badly enough to bring the latter’s tally down to 907 wards from 1,180. Unceasing infighting and distracted governance have taken a toll on the BJP, with the civic polls results providing a foretaste of what the May state elections could hold. The results boosted Congress morale as the party, out of power since 2006, now senses the possibility of a comeback. BJP sources said the results point to Yeddyurappa’s importance to the party’s fortunes in Karnataka. This, however, may not be an easy task as Yeddyurappa’s state rivals and a powerful section of the BJP’s central leadership are opposed to his return to the party. It remains to be seen if a more pragmatic approach prevails as the election nears.
For the Congress, the gains in a state that used to be its bastion in the past are gratifying.

The Congress won the city corporations of Davanagere, Mangalore and Bellary. The BJP’s has suffered maximum pain in the latter two bodies, once saffron fiefs. It’s a fractured mandate for the Mysore and Gulbarga city corporations.
Polling for 208 ULBs — seven city corporations, 43 city municipal corporations, 65 town municipal councils and 93 town panchayats — was held on March 7.