Kumaraswamy satisfied with the ULB election results

Bangalore, Sep 30 (UNI) The results of the Karnataka Urban Local bodies elections in favour of the ruling Janata Dal (S) reflected the faith of the people on the government's initiatives for the overall development of the State, Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy said today.

Inaugurating the newly built 'Vartha Bhavan' here, he said the election outcome had exhibited that JD(S) was not necessarily a party having strong roots only in rural areas.

''I have taken several measures to improve the living standards of people living in urban areas and the elections have yielded the expected results'', he added.

The JD(S) emerged the leader by winning a majority of the seats in the Urban Local Bodies elections held on September 28. While the party had unexpectedly fared well in many districts, including Hassan, Mysore, Mandya, Chamarajanagar, Chickmagalur, Tumkur and Gulbarga, the Congress had done well in Bijapur, Belgaum, Haveri, Shimoga, Bidar, Raichur and Bellary districts. The BJP, which had strong roots in urban areas, came a close third by winning a majority of seats in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada and Shimoga districts.

The unexpected turnaround was a shot in the arm for the JD(S), which was negotiating the issue of transfer of power to the BJP in Karnataka.

The JD(S), which was supposed to hand over power to the BJP on October three as per a pre-government formation agreement, reportedly tightened its stand on the issue following success in the Urban Local Bodies elections.

UNI