Congress suffers major defeat, BJP retains Bengaluru civic body

The voters of Bengaluru have expressed their no confidence in Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s leadership. They find him uninspiring. They have once again voted the BJP back to power in the Bengaluru City Corporation or the BBMP for the next five years.

The disappointed Congress plans to wrench the control of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) council with an all out offensive, BJP won 100 wards out of 198, as the results were declared today by the State Election Commission for the polls held on August 22.

The Congress bagged 76, JDS headed by former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda 14 and others eight, according to BBMP officials. Though marginally short of a simple majority mark of 103 in the 254-member council.

Admitting that the results are not according to his party’s expectations, Siddaramaiah said, “We had expected a simple majority for Congress.” Amid wild celebrations by BJP, Union Minister Ananth Kumar said, “This mandate shows that countdown has begun for Siddaramamaih and for the Congress.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that people’s “continuous faith in the BJP is humbling and gladdening” and called it a hat-trick after similar wins in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

“Thank you Bengaluru!” Modi tweeted.