Mysuru: Although the BJP has won more seats than the Congress and JD(S) in the Mysuru City Corporation(MCC) elections, it may not be able to gain control of it as the two coalition partners in the state government, plan to put their might together to once again defeat it. While the BJP won 33 of the 65 wards in Mysuru city, the Congress won 19 , the independents, five and the BSP, one.
But JD(S) state chief, A H Vishwanath said soon after announcement of results that the party would join hands with the Congress in the MCC and all other urban local bodies in the state, where they were not in a majority individually, to come to power, as they did following the assembly elections to form the state government. “We will discuss and decide on the Mayor’s post. There is mixed response from the people to the ULB elections in the state. Voters usually decide based on local problems in these polls, which are not an indicator of the Lok Sabha elections. We were busy with the Kodagu disaster, and so couldn’t focus much on the ULB polls,” he told reporters here.
Pratap Simha, MP,said the BJP was satisfied with the results of the MCC poll. “Although there is a Congress -JD (S) coalition government in the state, people elected more of the BJP’s candidates in Mysuru city. But we are ready to sit in the opposition in the MCC if the JD (S) joins hands with the Congress,” he added. In a loss of face for the coalition partners, the previous Mayor, Ms Bhagyavathi, who had left the Congress to join the JD (S), lost in the poll as did JD (S) city president, K T Chaluvaregowda.
Meanwhile, Congress Mysuru district president, Dr B J Vijaykumar, said the party had secured 2.2 per cent more votes than other parties in Mysuru district as a whole and claimed the downfall of the BJP had begun in the old Mysuru region in the coming Lok Sabha elections. While the Congress won the majority of 10 seats in Mysuru rural and 11 seats in H D Kote, the JD(S) won the majority of 14 seats in Periyapatna.
