Why the BBMP election results could bring differences in Congress to the fore

The ruling Congress party in Karnataka was tipped to win the elections narrowly since local polls tend to go the way of the party in power in the state. However, the Congress managed to improve its BBMP council numbers from 58 in 2009 to just 76 in the current elections. A low voter turnout in the range of 49 per cent was expected to benefit the Congress and vote bases as well.

The Congress, which lost control of the BBMP nine years ago, was hoping to cash in on an anti-incumbency factor perceived to be in existence on account of widespread corruption and maladministration in the BBMP in the last five years.

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Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was himself the face of the Congress campaign asking voters to secure the future of the city after embarking on a series of tours of the city in the run up to the elections. The Congress is however widely perceived to have paid the price for delaying the launch of its campaign and dallying too long over the idea of dividing up Bengaluru into smaller units to improve administration of a city creaking under the weight of rapid, uncontrolled expansion.

Despite opposition from the BJP, the Congress pushed through a bill to divide Bengaluru into smaller units soon after it superseded the BBMP council in April this year. The bill has been forwarded to the President for his assent by Governor Vajubhai Vala. The Congress had in its election manifesto for the Assembly polls in 2013 promised to make smaller units of the BBMP.

The Congress party is likely to go ahead with the division of the city in the event of the bill being approved by the President later this year and this could result in the dissolution of the currently elected council. Soon after it registered a victory in the BBMP polls on Tuesday, the BJP issued a warning to the Congress against going ahead with its plan to divide the city.

“The Congress efforts to trifurcate the city has been punished. The BJP’s vision for a modern Bengaluru has been rewarded,’’ Bengaluru MP and BJP minister in the Modi government in New Delhi H N Ananth Kumar said following the election results. Kumar and his lieutenant R Ashok, a former home minister, largely strategised the BBMP elections for the BJP.

“Despite the corruption and maladministration experienced under the BJP, the people of Bengaluru have given the BJP a second chance. We had promised a new Bengaluru and solution for many of the city’s problems in the next year but the people’s mandate is final,’’ state Congress president G Parameshwar said following the polls results. He also indicated that the Congress would stand by its election promise to divide Bengaluru into smaller units in the event of the trifurcation bill receiving the assent of the President in the coming days.

The failure of the largely rural facing Siddaramaiah to secure a solid mandate in the Bengaluru polls is likely to open the doors for the entry into the government for the more urbane Parameshwar – who has been eyeing the post of the deputy chief minister for the last two years.

“Victories tend to wipe away all differences in a party but losses tend to bring them to the fore,’’ senior Congress minister and spokesman Dinesh Gundu Rao said. Differences in the Congress between groups led by the chief minister and old Congress hands led by Parameshwar are likely to come to the fore in the aftermath of the local polls.

Close analysis of the BBMP poll results show that the BJP managed to win the majority of city wards in the 12 out of 28 Assembly constituencies in Bengaluru represented by BJP MLAs while the Congress which has 13 MLAs in Bengaluru lost the majority in as many as four constituencies controlled by its MLAs. The JD(S) notched wins only in three Assembly seats it won in 2013.