In Karnataka civic polls, Congress wins 509 of 1,221 wards, BJP gets 366
Bengaluru, May 31: Congress won the highest number of seats in civic polls in Karnataka on Friday, in some good news for the beleaguered party which was routed in the state in the just-concluded Lok Sabha elections.
While Congress bagged 509 of the total 1,221 wards in 56 urban local bodies (ULB) for which results were declared, the BJP got 366 wards, the state poll panel said.
The JD(S), which fought the polls alone, won 174 wards. Independent candidates emerged victorious in 160 wards, the BSP got 3, CPI(M) 2 and other parties secured 7.
The Congress and JD(S) who are in alliance in the state had decided to go to the polls separately and had asked their local leaders to decide on tactical arrangements at the ground-level depending on the local situation.
Results were declared for 217 wards of seven municipal councils, 714 wards of 30 town municipal councils and 290 wards of 19 town panchayats.
Congress won 90 wards in the municipal councils, while the BJP and JD(S) won 56 and 38 wards, respectively.
The Congress bagged 322 of 714 wards in 30 town municipal councils, where the BJP has won 184 and the JD(S) 102.
However, of the 290 wards in 19 town panchayats, BJP won the most with 126 seats, while the Congress and JD(S) won 97 and 34 wards, respectively.
The results of the civic body elections, which were held on Wednesday, gave a much-needed breather to the ruling Congress-JD(S) coalition in the state where it was battered by the BJP, which won 25 of the 28 Lok Sabha seats. The Congress and the JD(S) had managed to win one seat each, indicating that neither arithmetic nor chemistry had worked for the two as its local leadership failed to reconcile at the ground level during the national elections.
The results were said to be the worst-ever performance by the Congress in Karnataka and a record of sorts by the BJP for which the state had emerged as a bright spot in the South with other neighbouring states bucking the trend.
The civic poll win, however, has rekindled the workers of the Congress and the JD(S), which were battling fears of defection in the state legislature.
Sounding upbeat, state Congress chief Dinesh Gundu Rao said the results indicate that the party was strong at the local level.
However, he raised apprehensions about voting machines used in the Lok Sabha polls, saying "such difference in public mandate in such a short gap needs to be verified."
"Whatever it may be, people have supported us and has installed confidence in us after Lok Sabha results," he added.
Rao said, in the civic bodies where the Congress has got majority, it will form administration on its own, and wherever there is no majority, local leaders have been asked to either seek JD(S) support or to support the regional party, depending on the situation.
When 105 civic bodies went to polls last year, the Congress had won 982 wards, while the BJP and the JD(S) won 929 and 375 wards, respectively.
District-wise data :
Bengaluru City: Congress-17, BJP-10
Chitradurga: Congress-22, BJP-20, JDS-3, Independents-18
Davanagere: Congress-10, BJP-5, JDS-14, Independents-2
Kolar: Congress-39, BJP-11, JDS-14, Independents -13
Chikkaballapur: Congress-26, BJP-2, JDS-11, BSP-2, CPM-2, Independents -11
Tumkur: Congress 45, BJP 21, JDS 15, Independents 10
Mysuru: Congress-31, BJP-18, JDS-23, Independents -5
Chikkamagaluru: Congress -27, BJP-27, JDS-7, Independents-6
Dakshina Kannada: Congress 24, BJP-34, JDS-1, Independents 2
Hassan: Congress-6, BJP-8, JDS-11, Independents-3
Mandya: Congress-23, BJP-4, JDS-32, Independents-10
Chamarajanagar: Congress-22, BJP-17, JDS-6, Independents-1, others -1
Vijayapur: Congress -24, BJP-20, JDS-3, Independents-22
Dharwad: Congress-18, BJP-18, JDS-17, Independents -5
Gadag: Congress-12, BJP-29, JDS-1, Independents -4
Haveri: Congress-12, BJP-22, Independents-12
Uttar Kannada: Congress-6, BJP-27, JDS-2, Independents -23
Bidar: Congress-75, BJP-31, JDS-13, BSP-1, Independents 4, others 4
Bellary: Congress-54, BJP-30, JDS-1, Independents -8
Yadgiri: Congress-16, BJP-12, Independents-1, others -2
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BJP accuses AAP of circulating 'edited' videos to malign Swati Maliwal
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi BJP Saturday accused AAP leaders of circulating "edited" videos to tarnish the image of their own party MP Swati Maliwal, who has accused an aide of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of assaulting her.
It is regrettable that "edited" videos are being circulated on social media groups since Friday in an attempt to "defame" Maliwal who is a member of the Aam Aadmi Party, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva claimed.
Earlier in the day, the Delhi Police arrested Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar who has been accused by Maliwal of assaulting her at the CM's residence on Monday.
A couple of videos from the chief minister's residence from the day of the incident have surfaced on social media, one showed Maliwal having an argument with security personnel, while the other showed her walking out of the CM's residence in the Civil Lines.
"Now that the entire Aam Aadmi Party is tarnishing the image of Swati Maliwal, it's time Kejriwal comes forward and speaks on the matter," Sachdeva said.
The AAP has accused Maliwal of lying and becoming a part of the BJP conspiracy to frame Kejriwal in a fake case in the midst of elections.
Sachdeva said now that Kejriwal's aide has been arrested by police, many "dirty pages" of AAP's politics will become public.
If the AAP is trying to implicate Maliwal by circulating "edited" videos, it would be better for the Delhi Police to immediately take possession of the complete CCTV footage of the chief minister's residence, Sachdeva said.
He charged that Maliwal is not the first woman leader of the AAP that the party has has defamed.
Earlier, they also raised questions about Kiran Bedi, Shazia Ilmi and Richa Pandey who have all left the AAP, Sachdeva added.
