Civic body polls: Congress wins 7, JDS bags 2, BJP heads home with just 1 seat out of 10

BENGALURU, 01 May 2021 [Fik/News Sources]: It's bad news for the BJP, which managed to win just one of 10 civic bodies — the Congres won seven and the JDS bagged two. This comes just ahead of the May 2 counting of votes for the bypolls in Karnataka, and assembly elections in other states.Traditionally, the ruling party holds an advantage in civic body elections, but that is not so for the BJP this time. It is especially disheartening for Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa who saw a setback in Thirthahalli in his native district Shivamogga.

The lone win for BJP came from the highly polarised Madikeri Town Municipality, where the party has traditionally managed to do well. This pro-BJP sentiment was not visible in the other civic body poll results, though. In Ballari City Corporation, which was with the BJP,  the Congress managed a convincing victory. The mining barons didn't do well either. Somashekar Reddy's son lost the polls, as did the son of former MP Sanna Fakeerappa, who is also Sriramulu's relative.

In an indication that BJP's popularity is declining, the Congress won 21 of the 39 seats in Ballari, leaving just 13 for the BJP, while the JDS drew a blank. In Ramanagara, where the JDS has traditionally done well, the Congress managed to do exceedingly well thanks to the personal involvement of DK Shivakumar and his brother-MP DK Suresh. Congress won 19, JDS won 11 here and BJP drew a blank, which is a great setback for the party which has tried to project DyCM Dr CN Ashwath Narayan as its Vokkaliga face here.

The Congress retained Bhadravati, its old bastion, and managed to storm Thirthahalli, which the BJP had been holding for 25 years in the CM's home constituency. The Congress won a convincing 9 of 15 seats, reducing BJP to just 6 seats, while the JDS drew a blank.

In Belur, in Hassan district, the Congress won 17 seats while BJP won just one seat. The JDS won 5 seats in Gudibande civic body in Chikkaballapura district, while the opposition Congress gained a clear majority, winning 6 of 11 seats, in spite of Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar working very hard here. Reacting to the victory, Opposition leader Siddaramaiah, and DK Shivakumar said they could not contain their joy as the elections were held on April 27, just when Covid cases were peaking.