The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has finished a close second with a tally of 929 wards in the urban local body (ULB) elections in the State. This is the best-ever performance of the saffron party in ULB elections in the State.
In terms of absolute numbers, the party is short of about 150 wards when compared to its peak performance in 2007, when elections were held to all the ULBs. But now, polls to ULBs in eight districts are yet to be held.
Despite a decent performance, the party is not devoid of concern, as the results have shown that the partnership between the Congress and the JD(S) can swing the political balance. The BJP leadership knows it has to take on the combined effort of the ruling coalition partners as they have decided to forge an alliance for the Lok Sabha polls as well. The general elections are crucial for the BJP as its central leadership is keen on winning more than 20 seats in Karnataka.
While the BJP is cautious about the plans of its rivals to go it together in 2019, the party leadership maintains that it is not unduly worried as it feels that parliamentary polls are different from ULB polls as they are fought on broader issues.
What has brought cheer to the leadership is the party’s performance in the three city corporations. It emerged as the single largest party in all of them, though it could capture power in only one.
The party has also been able to broaden its base by expanding to other areas such as Hassan, besides improving its performance in Chamarajanagar and Chitradurga districts. The BJP leadership will now analyse the ULB results from the context of its preparations for the Lok Sabha elections.
Meanwhile, BJP State president B.S. Yeddyurappa described the party’s performance in the local body polls as “impressive”. “We have substantially increased our tally in hundreds of ULBs across the State,” he said. He also argued that the outcome of the ULB elections was neither an indication nor a trendsetter for the big fight looming next year.