BJP numbers down to 11 from 16 in 2008 in Bengaluru city

From 16 seats in 2008, to 12 seats in 2013, to 11 seats in the recently held Karnataka Assembly elections, the BJP’s seat-share in Bengaluru city has gradually decreased.

With the conclusion of elections to Rajarajeshwari Nagar and Jayanagar constituencies – the former was postponed due to irregularities and the latter countermanded following the BJP candidate’s death – the BJP has not improved on its May 12 figure of 104 seats.

This even as the BJP is believed to have a greater following in urban areas. The failure to improve support base in the crucial Bengaluru urban, the BJP is now into introspection mode. On the other hand, Congress has gained greater hold of Bengaluru, with its tally going up to 15 as against 13 in 2013 and 11 in 2008 elections.


Political analyst Prof Sandeep Shastri said that the decrease in number of seats and BJP’s defeat in RR Nagar and Jayanagar, would well be a message to the party that unless they get their house in order, preparing for 2019 elections will continue to be a challenge.

“BJP did not get a majority in Karnataka because of Bengaluru city. The city did not vote for the BJP in the way they expected,” he said. “It is a message that the party cannot depend on national leadership and charisma and will have to address local factors.”

After losing the RR Nagar polls, where the Congress candidate Munirathna retained his seat despite allegations of voter ID card anomaly, the BJP pinned hopes on Jayanagar which it won two consecutive times since 2008. But the party leader’s decision to field the late B N Vijayakumar’s brother B N Prahlad, led to dissent.

BJP leaders do not see the defeat in RR Nagar and Jayanagar as a fallout of post-election developments in Karnataka, but merely as a result of micro-level issues. “We lost RR Nagar because of Congress candidate’s muscle and money power and the strength of JDS candidate (who moved from BJP to Congress). Had JDS fielded any other candidate, we would have had an edge,” a BJP leader told ET.