The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will contest all the 189 seats across seven urban local bodies (ULBs) in Dakshina Kannada in the elections to be held on March 7, according to K. Monappa Bhandary, MLC and spokesperson of the district unit of the party.
He told presspersons here on Tuesday that in the election held for ULBs in the district in 2007, the party had contested 157 seats and had an alliance with the Janata Dal (Secular) in Moodbidri Town Municipal Council. Mr. Bhandary said the BJP candidates had won in 84 wards in the 2007 election and expressed confidence that the party would win 125 seats this year.
The BJP had won 34 wards out of 60 in the Mangalore City Corporation in the last election. Mr. Bhandary said that of the 27 wards in Puttur Town Municipality, the BJP had won 15 wards and in Bantwal Town Municipality the party had bagged 10 seats out of 34.
In Moodbidri Town Municipal Council, the party had won four seats out of 23 and won six seats in the 27-member Ullal Town Municipal Council. In Sullia Town Panchayat, the BJP had won nine out of 18 wards while in Belthangady Town Panchayat it had won four out of 11 wards.
Mr. Bhandary said the party gained power in Bantwal Town Municipal Council despite being in minority for “political reasons”. The party ruled the Mangalore City Corporation, Puttur Town Municipal Council, and Sullia Town Panchayat.
He said the party would seek votes on the basis of development work carried out in the last five years. He claimed that there were no groups in the party at the State-level. The internal bickering had ended after some leaders quit the party and formed Karnataka Janata Paksha (KJP).
