Though victory in most Zilla Panchayats and Taluk Panchayats should come as glad tidings for Karnataka Congress Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, that the wins were not emphatic should worry the party. The CM now has his task cut out: he will need to strengthen the Congress’ roots in the State, and also fend off competition from within the ruling party.
Of the 1,083 ZP seats in the State, the Congress bagged 498 seats, while Opposition BJP won 408, the Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) 148, and independents 29. In the Taluk Panchayats, the Congress won 1,703 of the 3,884 seats, while the BJP and JDS won 1,363 and 609 seats respectively. Independents have won in 207 seats.
Going by the district-wise ZPs (total 30); the Congress has managed to secure a majority in 10 and has fallen short by a few seats in eight ZPs. Principal opposition BJP bagged seven ZPs and finished second in most. The JD-S has managed to hold on to its turf in Mandya and Hassan ZPs.
The Congress has performed well in Mumbai-Karnataka, Hyderabad-Karnataka and parts of Old Mysore. While BJP has performed well to retain its base in the Coastal, Malnad and Hyderabad-Karnataka regions, it lost a number of seats in Mumbai-Karnataka and drew a blank in Old Mysore.
Political analysts feel the Congress’ performance, though a face-saver for Siddaramaiah, is not in tune with the trend of ruling party making a sweep in the rural local bodies.
Now to increase the tally, the Congress needs to forge an alliance with the independents and the JD-S in the hung ZPs. The BJP is also trying to woo the JD-S to capture at least five ZPs of the 11 that have a fractured verdict.
Detractors of Siddaramaiah within the Congress, after the recent by-poll drubbing in two of three Assembly seats, were keen to see him falter in this crucial local body elections which are considered a barometer of the people’s pulse. The respectable showing in the local body polls, the last before Assembly elections in 2018, is expected to silence them for a while.
“We were hoping to bag 20 ZPs. The election result is not as per our expectations,” the Chief Minister said, responding to the verdict.