Even though the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was humiliated in most parts of the State in the Assembly elections, it managed to hold on to 12 of the 17 seats it won in the 2008 polls, almost matching the Congress tally of 13 seats. The surprise gainer is the Janata Dal (Secular), which not only retained Chamarajpet but also wrested Mahalakshmi Layout and Pulakeshinagar from the Congress.
The Congress, which had calculated on making significant gains in Bangalore, had to remain content with an increase of three seats to 13.
In the 2009 parliamentary elections, the Congress lost all the three Lok Sabha seats to the BJP. The following year, it lost to the saffron party in the elections to the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).
Significantly, this time round, Mayor R. Venkatesh Murthy, who contested as a BJP candidate from Shantinagar, lost to Congress’s N.A. Haris.
“We had expected to win at least 17. We are satisfied with the 13 we bagged now. Importantly, we wrested five seats from the BJP even though we lost two to the JD (S),” the former mayor and veteran Congressman Ramachandrappa told The Hindu .
The electoral battle between Law Minister S. Suresh Kumar of the BJP and his former Cabinet colleague Shobha Karandlaje, a Karnataka Janata Paksha (KJP) candidate, in Rajajinagar, had attracted widespread attention. Eventually, Mr. Kumar humbled Ms. Karandlaje.
Incidentally, the city humbled two of the five ministers in the Jagadish Shettar government. Housing Minister V. Somanna and Social Welfare Minister A. Narayanaswamy lost while Deputy Chief Minister R. Ashok, Health Minister Aravind Limbavalli and Law Minister Suresh Kumar retained their respective seats.
