Congress gets a majority in Bidar ZP

Tarabai Lakshman Rathod, a Lambani woman who represented the BJP from the Janawada ZP seat, receives her winner’s certificate from returning officer M. Zia Ullah at the counting centre in Bidar on Tuesday. —Photo: Gopichand T.

The Congress has won a majority in the Bidar Zilla Panchayat, though the mandate remained unclear for the taluk panchayats in three of the five taluk panchayats.

The Congress won 19 of the 34 seats in the zilla panchayat when the counting ended on Tuesday. The BJP won 11 seats and the Janata Dal (Secular) three. An Independent won from the Basavakalyan taluk.

The Congress’ best show was in Bhalki taluk where it won all the six seats. The party won four seats each in Bidar and Humnabad. Three Congress candidates won from Aurad while only one candidate won from Basavakalyan. The BJP got four seats in Aurad and Basavakalyan, two in Bidar and one in Humnabad. The JD(S) won one seat each in Bidar, Humnabad and Basavakalyan. The lone independent, Suresh Kadadi, came in from Basavakalyan.

This is in stark contrast to the results of 2010-11, when Congress got only two seats and the BJP won 18 seats. The JD(S) had won in five places and there were six Independents.

In fact, it is similar to the results of 2005, where Congress got 12 seats, BJP and the JD(S) got eight seats each. There was one representative of the BSP and ABPJD, apart from one Independent.

Meanwhile, the Congress also won a major share of the 131 taluk panchayat seats, though its members will become the presidents only in Bhalki and Aurad taluks.

The Congress got 62 seats, BJP 34, JD (S) 18, BSP 3 and KMP 1. There are 13 Independent members in the five TPs.

The Congress swept Bhalki TP by winning 21 of the 24 seats. It has three BJP members. Aurad TP, which has 26 members, has 14 Congress members and 12 BJP members.

Basavakalyan, which has 28 members, has 10 BJP members, seven JD(S) members and six Congress members. There is one BSP member and four Independents.

In Bidar TP, of the 26 seats, the Congress won 11 seats, the JD(S) four, the BJP three and the KMP one. The seven Independents are likely to decide who will be the next president. Of the 27 members in Humnabad TP, 10 are from the Congress, six from the BJP and seven are from the JD (S). The BSP has two and there are two Independents.