BJP wins Bangalore civic polls

BANGALORE,April 5: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday captured power in the Bangalore civic agency for the first time and pledged not to allow new slums in the city and to fulfill all other promises made in its election manifesto.

“The people’s verdict has increased our responsibility. We will try to fulfill whatever promises made in the party manifesto,” a beaming B.S. Yeddyurappa, the BJP’s first chief minister in Karnataka and south India, said after the party won the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) or Greater Bangalore City Corporation election.Of the 198 seats in the BBMP, the BJP won 112 followed by the Congress (64), the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) (15) and seven Independents.

Voting took place on March 28 with about 46 percent of the 6.6 million eligible voters casting their ballots to choose their representatives from over 1,300 candidates, majority of them Independents.The BJP contested 197 seats, the Congress 196 and the JD-S 194.