The Hindu
Udupi Oct 2: Systematic campaigning and a professional approach have helped increase the tally of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in municipal elections in Udupi district. In all, there are 95 wards in Udipi district, including Udupi city municipal council (35), town municipal councils of Kundapur (23) and Karkala (23), and town panchayat of Saligrama (14). Of them, the BJP has won in 59 wards, Congress 25, CPI(M) two, Janata Dal (Secular) one, and independents eight.
The BJP has increased its tally from 21 to 28 seats in the Udupi CMC. The performance of the party is being credited to its MLA K. Raghupati Bhat, who was personally involved in the selection of candidates and supervision of the campaign. The party had aggressively marketed the development activities such as widening of Udupi-Manipal Road and the shifting of the garbage dumping yard from Beedinagudde to Alevoor.
The Congress tally has come down to six seats from 12 in the previous House. Its leaders maintained a low profile after the 2004 Assembly elections in which the party suffered a crushing defeat in the district.
They became active only when the civic polls were nearing.
Secular votes
The division in the secular vote also hurt the Congress. The presence of the Janata Dal (S) was responsible for the defeat of four Congress candidates while the Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate led to the defeat of the Congress candidate in one ward. This is assuming that the votes bagged by the Janata Dal (Secular) and Samajwadi Party would have gone to the Congress.
The victory of the BJP in Kundapur, where its tally increased from six to 15 seats in a House of 23, is being attributed to the charisma of MLA Halady Srinivas Shetty.
First time for BJP
The BJP has come to power for the first time in Kundapur after it became a TMC in 1973.
The Congress has won five seats. The tally of the CPI (M) came down to two from six and the Janata Dal (S) managed to open its account with one seat.
The only solace for the Congress is that it has captured the Karkala TMC by winning in 12 of the 23 wards there. The BJP has won nine seats.
The BJP increased its tally from five seats to seven in the Saligrama town panchayat which has thrown up a hung House.