BJP workers celebrate after winning 100 wards in the Bengaluru civic polls. (Press Trust of India photo)
It's a narrower victory than last time, but Bengaluru has handed control of its municipality back to the BJP, which is celebrating its third big win after sweeping civic polls in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh earlier this month.
The win in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike or BBMP elections today is made sweeter by the fact that it is in Karnataka, a state that the Congress wrested from the BJP just two years ago as the latter grappled with corruption charges and deep fissures within the state unit.
"After MP & Rajasthan, BBMP poll results complete a hat-trick of wins for BJP. This is a win for politics of development & good governance," Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted on Tuesday evening.
This is the first time in three decades that a party that does not rule the state has won Bengaluru's civic election. The BJP has won 100 wards, which gives it a slim majority in the 198-ward BBMP. Five years ago it had won 111; the party also ruled the state then.
The Congress did better this time, but not enough to get control of the BBMP. Karnataka's ruling party had hoped to defeat the BJP especially given the chronic and headline-grabbing civic challenges that the city has faced in the last few years - frothing polluted lakes, garbage piled on roads and nightmare traffic to name but a few.
The BJP promises change. "Under the leadership of Narendrabhai, we will bring a clean, safe and smart Bengaluru. We welcome the verdict of the people," said powerful BJP leader Ananth Kumar, who represents Bangalore South in Parliament.
Today's result confirms the BJP's political dominance of Karnataka's capital. Just months after its rout in the assembly elections in the state, the BJP had last year swept Bengaluru in the national election, winning all three Lok Sabha seats.