BENGALURU: A headache is in store for the Congress if it fails to bag 105 seats in the BBMP elections.
Of the total 198 wards in the city, 197 went to polls on Saturday. A BJP candidate from Hongasandra (Bommanahalli Assembly constituency) has already been elected unopposed. Besides the corporators, 56 others — 28 MLAs, 15 MLCs, five Lok Sabha members and eight Rajya Sabha members — constitute the BBMP Council, which has a total strength of 254.
This throws up an interesting party break-up even before the counting begins on Tuesday morning. The BJP has 27 members (including three non-corporator independents backing it and one corporator elected unopposed), the Congress 23, and the JD(S) seven.
In this situation, the Congress has to win 105 of the 197 wards to enjoy a simple majority. Only then will the Congress beat the combined opposition tally of 126 the BJP, JD(S) and independents, if any, could put up.
If the Congress fails to reach the magic number of 105, it will have to garner support from independents or the JD(S) to touch 128, and keep the BJP away from power.
“Even with just 80 seats, we will have our mayor,’’ said a senior BJP leader, who is already talking to the JD(S). He believes that the BJP needs just 80 wards to reach a total of 107, with the support of 27 others. “That is good enough to corner the Congress and gain the upper hand,’’ he said. He is upbeat about an alliance with the JD(S) to prevent the Congress from gaining control of the city corporation.
The JD(S), a minor player, is likely to play kingmaker if the Congress falls short of a majority.
If the Congress crosses 100, the JD(S) is unlikely to play any role as independents might be able to swing a majority for the Congress. But if the Congress hovers around 95, and independents number less than 10, the party will have no choice but talk to the JD(S).
The BJP is confident the JD(S) is inclined to align with it rather than the Congress.
“They won’t go with the Congress in the present situation,’’ said another senior BJP leader, taking into account the strained relations between the Congress and the JD(S) after former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy was arrested and released in a mining case.
Aware of the pitfalls, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had campaigned intensively in the last two weeks.
“If we get 95 seats, we hope there are enough independents to woo. If not, we will wait and see how it all unfolds,’’ a senior Congress leader told Express.