BJP gives a Drubbing to Cong in ZP/TP Polls, JD(S) Fares Better
Gabriel Vaz
Daijiworld Media Network
Bangalore, Jan 4: The roles have now been reversed. The ruling BJP, which has long been dubbed as an urban-oriented party without much of a base in the rural areas, has managed to hold its own and bagged a clear majority in as many as 12 out of the 30 zilla panchayts in the crucial zilla panchayat polls, while the opposition Congress and JD(S) could win in 4 zilla panchayats.
Surprisingly, the outcome in as many as 10 zilla panchayats could not produced any clear winners. However, the ruling party would be in a position to wrest control of most of the hung zilla panchayats by virtue of its legislators and parliament members, who enjoy voting rights by virtue of their position as ex-officio members.
But the most obvious part of the two-phase zilla and taluk panchayat polls held on December 26 and December 31, the result of which were counted in the respective taluk and district headquarters throughout the state on Tuesday (January 4), is that the BJP had improved its hold in the zilla panchayats from 1 in 2005 to 12 in 2011 while the Congress had to face the mortification of its position nose-diving from 14 to a meagre 4. Incidentally, the number of zilla panchayts in 2005 was 27, which has now gone upto 30. Thus, the Congress party had captured more than half the total number of 27 zilla panchayats in 2005. The JD(S) has seen its strength being doubled from 2 in 2005 to 4 in 2011.
The ruling BJP has succeeded in making virtual clean sweep of coastal Karnataka by winning Dakishina Kannada and Udupi. But Uttara Kannada district, has surprisingly tilted in favour of the Congress. BJP has also won in Kodagu, Chikmagalur and Shimoga districts.
Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurapa, who had invited opposition criticism over a series of land scams and other allegations of nepotism, favouritism and irregularities that were exposed by opposition JD(S) and Congress, and had managed to hold on to his position by defying the party high command’s directions to resign, had made the present round of zilla and taluk panchayat elections as a virtual mandate for his two and half year rule. He along with state BJP president K S Eshwarappa had publicly asserted that the ruling party would majority of the seats.
Yeddyurappa had gone to the extent of declaring that he would ensure a clean sweep for BJP in the elections and indicating that he would shift to national politics after ensuring that the BJP bagged 150 out of the 224 assembly seats in the next round of assembly polls. Yeddyurappa had also warned that he would ensure that the JD(S) and Congress were decimated.
The Chief Minister claimed that the BJP had fared exceedingly well and proved that the party was not urban-centric and had taken deep roots in the rural areas. ``The results have vindicated the support of the people and for the development-based governance during the last two and half years. We will continue to carry on with the developmental and pro-people and farmer-friendly programmes in the state. The people of Karnataka have given a befitting reply to the baseless allegations of the opposition leaders through the results in the elections,” he said.
Yeddyurappa said the people of Karnataka have expressed their full support to the BJP candidates in all elections since the 2008 assembly polls, lok sabha elections, cooperative elections, APMC and BBMP polls. ``I assure the people that the government will strive to achieve all round development of the state in the remaining two and half years to fulfill the aspirations of the people,” he declared.
JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda termed the electoral verdict in the zilla and taluk panchayats as a defeat for the ruling BJP because the chief minister could not prove his bravado of trouncing the opposition parties and said the seats won by BJP were earned through its misuse of official power, money and liquor power. ``If the anti-BJP votes were not split among Congress and JD(S) parties, the ruling party would have got a severe drubbing. The electoral verdict demonstrates the need for an electoral understanding or tie-up among Congress and JD(S) to defeat BJP,” he said.
Meanwhile, former minister and JD(S) floor leader in the legislative council M C Nanaiah termed the outcome of the zilla and taluk panchayats as a virtual defeat of the ruling party and demanded the resignation of the chief minister as he could not prove his claim of routing the opposition parties.
Incidentally, the Congress opposition leaders in the assembly Siddaramaiah and his council counterpart Motamma termed the electoral result as a defeat of the ruling party as it could not encash the benefits of being in power. ``True, we could not win majority of the taluk and zilla panchayats. But the Congress party has proved that it is the only viable opposition party capable of defeating BJP,” they said refusing to comment on the possibility of an understanding with JD(S).
In the 2005 polls, the total number of zilla panchayat seats won by BJP was 145 and the party could rule only the Bellary zilla panchayat. But in the latest polls, BJP has won a total of 441 seats out of the total of 1013 seats against 353 of Congress and 180 by JD(S). Independents have won 39 zilla panchayat seats this time round.
Among the 176 taluk panchayats, which faced the two-phase polls, the BJP has captured half the total seats with a tally of 68 against 31 by Congress. The JD(S) could win almost as many taluk panchayats as the Congress with victory in 29 taluks. While 2 taluk panchayats have been won by Independents, as many as 46 taluk panchayats have produced fractured mandate. In the taluk panchayats too, the ruling BJP will be able to wrest control of most of the 46 taluk panchayats, which produced hung verdicts, by virtue of the party’s larger number of legislators and MPs with voting rights by virtue of their position as ex-officio members.
The most significant factor of the present round of elections is that the ruling BJP, which had captured the Bellary zilla panchayat in 2005, had lost its control over the district despite the presence of the all-powerful Bellary mining lords – Tourism and Infrastructure Minister G Janardhana Reddy, Revenue Minister G Karunakara Reddy and Health and Family Welfare Minister B Sriramulu – in the B S Yeddyurappa regime. Out of the 36 seats in the Bellary zilla panchayat, BJP could win barely 18 while the Congress party had won an impressive 17 with the remaining seat going to JD(S). However, BJP can still hope to wrest control of the district with the help of its larger numerical strength with legislators and MPs.
The 12 districts which have been won by BJP are Davangere, Shimoga, Chikmagalur, Dakishina Kannada, Udupi, Kodagu, Belgaum, Bagalkot, Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri and Bidar.
The four districts which went in favour of Congress are Chamarajnagar, Chikkaballapur, Uttara Kannada and Yadgir, while the JD(S) has demonstrated its hold in the Vokkaliga-dominated Old Mysore areas by wresting control of Hassan, Mandya, Ramanagara and Tumkur districts.
The 10 districts, which produced fractured mandate, are: Kolar, Chitradurga,Bangalore Rural, Mysore, Bijapur, Bellary, Raichur, Gulbarga, Koppal and Bangalore urban.