BELAGAVI: The BJP has achieved a clear majority in the 58-member Belagavi City Corporation, winning 36 seats. The pro-Maharashtra MES which wielded power for several decades in the corporation suffered humiliation winning a mere three seats.
The Congress party's plans to gain a majority by roping in the MES and Independent candidates failed miserably as it eventually accounted for just nine seats, with Independents also winning the same number of seats. The AIMIM sprang a surprise winning one of the six seats it contested.
Ever since the corporation came into existence three decades ago, a majority of corporators were divided into Kannada and Marathi groups and the latter supported by the MES would come to power most of the time. This year, for the first time, major political parties fielded their candidates in the elections to the corporation.
The large Marathi population which rallied behind the MES by default in all previous elections to the Belagavi corporation appears to have dumped it this time round and voted generously for the BJP.
The Kannada-Marathi language politics which hitherto was deep-rooted in the corporation has finally ended, thanks to the entry of political parties in this much-hyped election.