Karnataka local body result sends hopes soaring for Congress ahead of LS polls

BENGALURU: The Congress has turned in impressive performance in the elections to the 102 urban local bodies in Karnataka, seeking to disprove the belief that BJP holds substantial sway over the urban voters. The Congress has emerged single-largest, infusing hopes in the party rank and file ahead of the crucial Lok Sabha elections next year.

The Congress won 982 of 2662 seats, while the BJP and the JD-S got 929 and 375 seats, respectively. The BJP State President BS Yeddyurappa, who has blamed money power and abuse of official machinery by the ruling JD(S)-BJP combine, called BJP’s performance “impressive”, too.

His party, though the runner-up, can take comfort from the fact that it has emerged single largest in Mysuru, Shivamogga and Tumakuru city corporations. Shivamogga is BJP State president BS Yeddyurappa’s fief, and the party also has a comfortable majority here. In the other two city corporations, the Congress-JD-S combine is expected to wrest power.


The BJP has nearly swept the polls to the Udupi and Bagalkot municipal councils. In the JD(S) stronghold of Hassan district, the BJP has won 13 seats.

AICC general secretary in-charge of Karnataka affairs KC Venugopal called the results an endorsement of the Congress and a pointer to the trends in the Lok Sabha polls. “I have asked the KPCC president to tell local leadership to partner with the JD-S wherever the mandate is fractured. That will keep the BJP out of power,” he told ET.

Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy’s brother, Public Works Minister HD Revanna said the results were a vote of confidence for the 100-day old coalition government.

The electoral outcome, Yeddyurappa said, will have nothing to do with the Lok Sabha polls. Analysts too are of the view that local body poll results are influenced more by local factors and candidates, while concentrated voting in one or two Assembly segments can turn the tide in favour of a particular candidate in Lok Sabha polls.

The results are on the expected lines, said Harish Ramaswamy, Political Science teacher at Karnatak University, Dharwad, commenting on today’s results. Voters, he said, tend to favour the party in power in local body polls. “What i notice is the Congress and the JD-S have consolidated their respective voter constituencies rather than trying to eat into the BJP votes. That is a good strategy, and the results should cement their relationship ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.”

The polls were held to three city corporations, 29 city municipal corporations, 53 town municipal corporations and 20 town panchayats. The elections reflected the waning influence of the BJP as the size of the urban body decreased. In bigger cities, the BJP holds sway over voters.