Cong. set for a landslide victory

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, NOV. 12. The ruling Congress is all set for a landslide victory in the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) polls. Results declared for 76 seats of the 100-member Council till 8 p.m. on Monday indicated a Congress blitzkrieg with the party bagging 47.

According to official statistics available, the Congress has raced well ahead of all its rivals. The total number of seats bagged by the main Opposition parties was less than half of the Congress tally. While the BJP won 12 seats and the Janata Dal(S) emerged victorious in eight, the Janata Dal(U) could only manage four seats. Independents finished on top in five wards.

Among the prominent winners are the Deputy Mayor, Mr. B.S.Puttaraju, who was declared elected from Amarajyothinagar, Mr. P.R.Ramesh, Leader of the House in the previous Council (from V.V.Puram ward), both from the Congress; the former Deputy Mayor, Mr. Vasudevamurthy (Janata Dal-U, Shanthinagar), and the Leader of the Opposition in the last Council, Mr. S.K.Nataraj of the BJP from J.P.Nagar.

Among the losers are the former Deputy Mayor, Ms. Shahtaj Khanum, who contested as an independent from Gurappanapalya, and the former Mayor, Mr. J.Huchappa's wife, Ms. Anasuya (Janata Dal- S), a candidate from Subramanyanagar.

The sitting councillors who lost at the hustings are Mr. V.Shivashankar (DMK), Mr. M.Paree (independent), Mr. Pradeepkumar Reddy (Janata Dal-U) and Mr. D.J.Chakravarthi, who all contested from the Ulsoor ward. Also to lose are Ms. Savithri, wife of Mr. Huchaiah (former BJP councillor from Srinagar), and Ms. Komala, wife of Mr. B.V.Ganesh, expelled BJP councillor from Chamarajpet.

However, the wives of some of the sitting councillors have been elected. They include Ms. Vijaya (Janata Dal-S), wife of Mr. Muniraju, from Chandra Layout ward, Ms. Geetha Sadashiva (BJP), wife of Mr. P.N.Sadashiva, from Kempe Gowdanagar, and Dr. Pratibha Raghu (BJP), wife of Mr. S.Raghu, from Sir C.V.Raman Nagar.

The councillors who are elected for the third consecutive term are Mr. K.Chandrasekhar (Hanumanthnagar), Mr. P.R.Ramesh (V.V.Puram), Mr. N.L.Narendra Babu (Nagapur), all of the Congress, and Mr. B.S.Satyanarayana (BJP) from Basavangudi. Those who have retained their seats include Mr. M.Lakshminarayana of the Congress from Gali Anjaneya Temple ward, and Mr. B.R.Nanjundappa of the Janata Dal(S) from Jalahalli. Mr. Venkateshmurthy (BJP), who had won the last elections from Padmanabhanagar, was declared elected from Srinivasanagar this time.

Eighteen-year-old Ms. Indira, who was elected from Sarvajnanagar as a Congress candidate, is the youngest winner.

The counting of votes in five wards, where repolling has been ordered, were not taken up today. The wards are Aramanenagar, K.P.Agrahara, Gayathrinagar, Prakashnagar and Gandhinagar.

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Section  : Southern States
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