Karnataka ULB Polls: Congress wins more seats than BJP, emerges as 'number 1' partyIn what is seen as a shot in the arm for the Congress ahead of the bypolls to 15 assembly seats in Karnataka, the party came on top in recently held Urban Local Body (ULB) election. In the results declared on Thursday, the Congress has won 151 out of 418 seats while the BJP is on the second position after securing victory on 125 seats.
Janata Dal (Secular) is at the third position after winning 63 seats while Independents and smaller parties have won rest of the seats in the elections held on November 12.
Elections for 14 urban local bodies (ULBs), including City Municipal Councils (CMC) and Town Municipal Councils (TMC), from nine Karnataka districts were held on Tuesday.
The BJP registered its best performance in the Mangalore City Corporation polls after winning 44 out of the total 60 wards as the Congress was restricted to 14 wards. The civic body, considered a bastion of the Congress, was by the party in 2013 when it had secured 35 wards while the BJP could only win 15.
The election in Mangalore was considered a prestige battle for the BJP as it is the home town of state party chief Nalin Kumar Kateel.
The BJP also won in Ballari district but remained behind the majority marks as it secured victory on 20 of the 43 seats. The Congress won 16 seats while the JD(S) has four.
The BJP worst and JD(S) best performance came in Chikkaballapur district where they won three and 20 seats, respectively. The Congress grabbed 16 of 62 seats.
In Kolar district, the Independents hold the key to power as they emerged as the largest bloc with 33 seats. The Congress, however, is the single-largest party in the civic body by winning 32 out of 101 seats. The JD(S) won 20 seats and the BJP only eight.
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president Dinesh Gundu Rao expressed happiness over his party's performance in the elections, claiming that it was the number one party in the state.
"@INCIndia again comes out on top, winning the highest number of seats for the 418 seats in the Karnataka Urban Local Bodies election. We’ve won 151 and are number 1 in Karnataka. Congrats to all the winners," Rao tweeted.