Congress wins majority in Karnataka civic polls

The Congress emerged as the largest party in Karnataka's urban local body elections, winning 982 of the 2,662 seats declared across 22 districts, according to the State Election Commission (SEC).

The results of the August 31 civic polls showed the Congress securing a majority in 10 districts, including Ballari, Bidar, Gadag, Mysuru, Uttara Kannada and Raichur. The party was the leading force in several of its traditional strongholds in northern Karnataka.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), meanwhile, won 929 seats and secured a majority in seven districts. Its strongest performance came in its traditional areas, particularly the coastal districts of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada.

The ruling coalition's other major partner, the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S), finished third with 375 seats. The party retained significant influence in its strongholds of Hassan, Mandya and Tumakuru.

Independents won 329 seats, while smaller regional and other parties accounted for another 34 seats.

The results indicated a geographically divided political landscape. While the Congress maintained its hold over several northern districts, the BJP performed strongly in coastal Karnataka, highlighting the contrasting regional bases of the two major parties.

Vijayapura produced a particularly interesting result, with neither major party securing a clear majority. Congress and BJP won eight seats each in the 23-member civic body, while JD-S secured two and Independents won five.

Where no party secured a majority on its own, the Congress and JD-S were expected to consider post-poll alliances to prevent the BJP from taking control. A similar arrangement had been formed after the May 12 Assembly election, which also produced a hung verdict.

Voting was held across 105 urban local bodies, including 29 city municipalities, 53 town municipalities, 23 town panchayats and 135 wards spread across the city corporations of Mysuru, Shivamogga and Tumakuru.

The elections recorded an average voter turnout of 67.5 per cent, reflecting strong participation in the local polls. However, voting for 45 seats in civic bodies in Kodagu district was postponed because of heavy rains and flooding in the region.

The latest results also represented a shift from the 2013 urban local body elections. In those polls, held for 4,976 seats, the Congress had won 1,960 seats, compared with 905 each for the BJP and JD-S, while Independents had secured 1,206 seats.

The 2018 results therefore showed the BJP making significant gains in urban Karnataka, even as the Congress remained the largest party overall and the JD-S continued to hold influence in parts of southern Karnataka.