Bengaluru: Karnataka Zilla Panchayat and Taluk Panchayat poll results have come as a huge relief to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in the state. Proving his detractors wrong, Siddaramaiah has managed to get a majority in both Zilla and Taluk Panchayats in the state. By 12 noon, the ruling Congress managed to secure 470 Zilla Panchayat seats and 1050 Taluk Panchayat seats respectively. It has come to power in 17 Zilla Panchayats and 51 Taluk Panchayats. There are 30 Zilla Panchayats and 175 Taluk Panchayats in the state.
By 4 PM, Congress still lead in 496 Zilla Panchayat seats and 1691 Taluk Panchayat seats respectively. BJP is second with 408 Zilla Panchayat seats and 1361 Taluk Panchayat seats. JDS is distant third with 144 Zilla Panchayat seats and 609 Taluk Panchayat seats.
Congress can come to power in 15 Zilla Panchayat out of 31. Both Congress and BJP can come to power in 56 Taluk Panchayat while JDS in 19. 44 remaining Taluk Panchayat remain hung.
Earlier in the day, the main opposition BJP has so far won 841 Taluk Panchayat and 373 Zilla Panchayat seats respectively. It has come to power in 11 Zilla Panchayats and 46 Taluk Panchayats.
Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda led-JDS has managed to win 302 Taluk Panchayat and 125 Zilla Panchayat seats respectively. The JDS has come to power in 2 Zilla Panchayats and 15 Taluk Panchayats respectively.
The others so far have won 101 Taluk Panchayat seats and 25 Zilla Panchayat seats respectively. 10 Taluk Panchayats have delivered hung Panchayats.
Since the Congress has already crossed the half way mark across the state, Siddaramaiah is likely to save his chair and complete the full term of five years as chief minister.
There are 30 Zilla Panchayats with a total of 1083 seats and 175 Taluk Panchayats with a total of 3902 seats in the state. Former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa not being made state BJP chief is believed to be the main reason for the no so impressive performance of the BJP.
In Karnataka, counting of votes for Zilla panchayats and taluk panchayats is taking place on Tuesday. There are 1083 zilla panchayat seats and 3902 taluk panchayat seats.
Elections were held in two phases on February 12 and 20. The counting began from 8 AM simultaneously at all district headquarters and the results are expected to start trickling in from the afternoon.
The results of these grassroots level elections is seen as a run up to the 2018 assembly elections as it would not only reflect the political mood of the people but also give their perception on Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
Though the results will not disturb the Siddaramaiah government, a defeat would give an opportunity for his opponents within the party to sharpen their knives against his leadership, especially following the defeat of the Congress in the recent by elections in two of the three Assembly segments.
However, Siddaramaiah has said that the results of these polls will not be a referendum on the performance of his government.
"Issues for civic polls are different from issues debated during Assembly and Lok Sabha elections," he has said. A total of 74.37% voting was recorded in the first phase held on February 12 while the second phase saw a voter turnout of 68 to 70% in 15 districts.
A total of 2,159 candidates contested the zilla panchayat polls and 6,457 contestants were in the fray for taluk panchayat seats. All three major political parties - Congress, BJP and JDS - made good efforts to attract voters through their
aggressive campaigns.
While the Congress tried to woo voters highlighting a slew of welfare programmes announced by Siddaramaiah for Dalits and backward classes, BJP campaigned around the "failure" of the government on all fronts.
The JDS triggered a debate on regional parties versus national parties to win over voters.
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