KOLAR: It was a major setback for the ruling Congress party when the Town Panchayat election results were announced on Wednesday.
Out of the seventeen wards, Congress secured victory in six, whereas the JD(S)–BJP alliance won ten wards and an independent candidate emerged victorious in one ward.
When B.S. Yediyurappa was the Chief Minister of the State in 2019, the government merged Vemgal Gram Panchayat and Kurugal Panchayat and upgraded it into a town panchayat, consisting of 17 wards.
For the first time, elections for the Vemgal–Kurugal Town Panchayat were held, and both Congress and the JD(S)–BJP alliance allegedly took it as a matter of prestige. Both sides carefully selected their candidates before fielding them.
Interestingly, senior Congress leaders including Revenue Minister Krishne Byre Gowda, District In-charge Minister Byrati Suresh, Chief Minister’s Political Secretary Naseer Ahmed, Kolar MLA Kothur Manjunath, MLC Anil Kumar and other senior party leaders campaigned extensively for Congress candidates. They also issued detailed instructions to local leaders to ensure victory.
On the other hand, former Minister Varthur Prakash, former MP Muniswamy, senior JD(S) leader C.M.R. Srinath and District BJP President Om Sakthi Chalapathy worked in favour of the alliance candidates.
The election was held under the direct supervision of Kolar DC Dr M.R. Ravi, ADC Mangala and SP B. Nikhil. Voting took place on 17 August, while counting was conducted under tight security on 20 August. The results, however, turned out to be disappointing for the ruling Congress, which failed to perform as expected.
Among the prominent winners in the election was former Zilla Panchayat President Venkatesh, who is considered to be a strong supporter of Varthur Prakash.