The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) retained its hold on Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat by winning 21 out of 36 seats leaving the remaining 15 to the Congress. The party has, however, lost three seats compared to its performance in 2010-11 while the Congress has gained four seats. The Congress got some solace when it dramatically snatched the Mangaluru Taluk Panchayat from the BJP by winning 20 seats out of the 39, while the BJP won 19 seats.
The party also had a comfortable victory in the Bantwal Taluk Panchayat, the home turf of district in-charge Minister B. Ramanath Rai, by winning 22 out of the 34 seats leaving the rest to the BJP. However, the BJP was able to retain the three remaining taluk panchayats — Belthangady, Puttur and Sullia.
The winning candidates of the Zilla Panchayat, constituency and the margin of victory are as follows: BJP — Vinod Kumar Bolluru, Kinnigoli, 1,117; Sucharitha Shetty, Puttige, 91; Sujatha K.P., Shirthadi, 1,643; Kasturi Panja, Kateel, 857; Vasanthi, Bajpe, 649; Janardhana Gowda, Edapadavu, 158; Dhanalakshmi, Someshwara, 515; M. Thungappa Bangera, Sangabettu, 13; Ravindra Kambali, Pudu, 135; Kamalakshi K. Poojary, Golthamajalu, 2,096; Jayashree Kodanduru, Punacha, 1,183; Soumyalatha Jayantha Gowda, Laila, 849; K. Koragappa Naika, Dharmasthala, 1,828; Mamatha M. Shetty, Kuvettu, 1,223; Shayana Jayananda, Uppinangadi, 2,725; Prameela Janardhan, Belanduru, 2,489; Meenakshi Shanthigodu, Panaje, 2,566; S.N. Manmatha, Bellare, 1,370; Asha Thimmappa, Guttigaru, 4,010; Pushpavathi Balila, Jalsooru, 1,458 and Harish Kanjipili, Aranthodu, 4,491.
Congress — U.P. Ibrahim, Gurupura, 94; Seema Melwin D’ Souza, Neerumarga, 2,495; Rashida Banu, Konaje, 4,480; B. Padmashekhar Jain, Sarapadi, 4,352; Manjula Madhava Maave, Mani, 1,913; M.S. Mohammad, Kolnadu, 1,265; Mamatha D.S. Gatti, Kurnadu, 2,855; Chandra Prakash Shetty Thumbe, Sajipamunnuru, 2,172; P. Dharanendra Kumar, Naaraavi, 452; Shekhara Kukkedi, Aladangadi, 915; Namitha K., Ujire, 188; Shahul Hameed K.K., Kaniyuru, 121; Sarvotthama Gowda K., Nelyadi, 24; P.P. Vergis Kadaba, Kadaba, 216 and Anitha Hemanatha Shetty, Nettanige-Mudnuru, 1,020.
Taluk panchayats
The BJP retained Belthangady, Puttur and Sullia taluk panchayats, while the Congress snatched Mangaluru and Bantwal taluk pancahyats from the BJP.
As many as 16 BJP candidates were elected to the Puttur Taluk Panchayat, while the Congress candidates won in the remaining eight seats. In the Sullia Taluk Panchayat, the BJP won nine seats and the Congress five. Belthangady Taluk Panchayat will have 14 BJP members and 12 Congress members. All four zilla panchaayt seats in Sullia taluk went to the BJP.
