Cong defeats BJP in Dakshina Kannada

MANGALORE: The Dakshina Kannada unit of BJP seems to be looking out for a Narendra Modi to haul the party out of the current quagmire.
Ever since the state BJP was crushed by the Congress in 1999 Assembly polls, the DK unit of the party has also been facing humiliating defeats in each and every poll in the district. The recent one being Mulky Town Panchayat polls.
The BJP could not even retain the seats it had won last polls.In Mulky TP, the BJP had seven of the 15 seats and was in power. This time around, it was so badly routed by the Congress, the BJP just managed to win a lone seat. The Congress took 11 to increase its tally (last polls Congress had three) and Janata Dal (United) won three.
This fall from grace was first witnessed during the DK Zilla Panchayat polls in 2000 where the BJP was annihilated. Of the 31 ZP seats at stake, the Congress bagged a whopping 30, while BJP got one. The BJP''s woes continued even in the Taluk Panchayat where of the 115 seats in the Mangalore TP, a whopping 87 went to the Congress, 22 to the BJP. The rest went to JD-S (4) and JD-U (2).
In the Town Panchayat and Town Municipality Council (TMC) polls, of the 50 TMC seats in DK, the Congress got 54 per cent with 27 and BJP 14. While in the TP polls, the Congress scored less than 50 per cent by holding 32 seats of the 65 at stake. The BJP got 22.
If one thought that BJP''s prospects were getting better, the Mulky Town Panchayat polls were a rude reminder that developmental issues were paramount during the urban bodies polls and not ''Hindutva'', as propagated by Modi.
Even in the City Corporation polls this year, the Congress romped home with a massive morale-boosting victory by winning 42 of 60 seats at stake. But at the same time, it''s difficult to say whether the creditable performance of the Congress in DK district could be deemed as a stamp of approval on Krishna government''s three-year performance.
There have been murmurs regarding the way Krishna has handled the Cauvery crisis and Nagappa abduction issue, but as these issues did not have any ''relevance'' to this region, the Congress may have got away scot-free. Hence, the results only add to BJP''s woes.