The results of the Urban Local Body (ULB) elections are out and the Karnataka Congress finally has reason to cheer. When the result of the polls for 105 ULBs were announced on Monday evening, Congress emerged as the single largest party, commanding power in 37 of them.
While the Congress won 37 ULBs, the BJP won 31 and the JD(S) secured 12, the Congress-JD(S) coalition won 12 ULBs, and 13 local bodies saw a hung mandate, according to the State Election Commission.
The 12 ULBs won by the Congress-JD(S) coalition is the result of a pact between the two parties to join hands for any seat where either of the two parties failed to get majority and the BJP is in the lead.
The 105 ULBs include three municipal corporations, 29 city municipal corporations, 53 town municipal corporations and 20 town panchayats. These 105 ULBs are made up of 2,670 wards/seats, with the winners of each ward forming the governing council for the respective ULB.
After the polls on 31 August, the Congress managed to win 982 seats, while the BJP secured 929, and the JD(S) won 375 seats. The others, including 329 independents, secured the rest of the seats in the three-way race with Congress and JD(S) fighting against each other, despite being coalition partners, in a strategy to keep the BJP at bay.