North Karnataka again proved to be a bastion of the BJP with the party wresting power in Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri, Bagalkot, Belgaum, Davanagere and Bidar districts in the elections to zilla panchayats held in December. Hitherto, the ZPs in these districts were held by either the Congress or the Congress-JD(S) alliance.
The charges of corruption and nepotism against chief minister B S Yeddyurappa hurled by Opposition parties seem to have come unstuck. The voters appear to have been more concerned about local factors like development of the region. “Supporting a ruling party and having a local self government of the same party ruling at the state level helps in getting funds and speed up development works,” said 79 year-old Yallappa Yaliwal of Amminabhavi village in Dharwad district. In Bellary both the BJP and Congress have tied with 18 seats each, while, the Congress has bagged Gulbarga and Yadgiri ZPs. The BJP could not wrest power from the Congress in Bijapur ZP though the party has five of the eight MLAs in the district. While the Congress has emerged the single largest party with 19 of the 38 seats, BJP has 16 and JD(S) has one seat. Another seat has gone to an independent.
Though the BJP has emerged as the single largest party in Koppal with 12 of the 27 seats, it is facing a challenge from Congress (10) and JD(S) (4) which are likely to combine to keep BJP out of power. Not even the support of an independent will help the BJP. Even in the Assembly elections, Koppal had favoured two BJP candidates, one candidate each from Congress, JD(S) and independent.
In Belgaum the BJP reaped a rich harvest, winning 63 of the 86 seats while the Congress which ruled the ZP earlier had to be content with just 17 seats. Janata Dal (S) could not open its account here while an independent has won. Dharwad ZP is another prize catch for the BJP. Ruled earlier by the Congress-JD(S) combine and suffering as a result of intra-party feud, the Dharwad ZP has now fallen into the lap of BJP where it has won 15 of the 22 seats. The party has narrowly missed power in Gulbarga ZP despite being the single largest party with 20 of the 43 seats. Congress (19) and JD(S) (3) will combine to be in charge.
Rural Development and Panchayat Raj minister Jagadeesh Shettar attributed the BJP’s success in elections to zilla panchayats to the performance of the BJP government in rural development. He told this correspondent on Tuesday that the people had recognised the programmes and policies of the government and had expressed their support for it.
He said, North Karnataka continues to be the bastion of the BJP as it had bagged power in Dharwad, Haveri, Gadag, Bagalkot, Belgaum and Bidar districts and improved its performance in Gulbarga and Yadgir districts where BJP had not fared well earlier.
Shettar said, the people’s mandate was for more development work and the BJP government would recognise it and work accordingly. “The ZPs’functioning will be closely monitored. We will ensure that they will deliver the goods,” he said.
On BJP wresting power in his home district Dharwad for the first time, Shettar said the people were upset with the performance of previous bodies which had a fractured mandate and hence have given a chance to the BJP. “We will meet their aspirations,” he added.
