BBMP polls: MP, Rajasthan in BJP kitty, Bengaluru next?

Bengaluru: Will the prestigious BBMP go the way of civic bodies in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh where BJP has swept the polls? Is it going to be a poor show by the ruling Congress in the elections, seen as a battle of prestige for Chief Minister Siddaramaiah?

Two different poll predictions, one an election survey by an independent agency commissioned by a vernacular media group and the other by the state intelligence department give a clear edge to BJP in the polls scheduled for Saturday.

The Kannada Prabha-Suvarna TV-AC Nielson survey predicted that BJP would get 52 per cent votes while Congress may have to be content with 32 per cent and JD (S) would get 14 per cent. Similarly, the state intelligence department which has been conducting surveys every week, gave 90 plus seats to BJP in the 198 member BBMP council, 75-85 seats to Congress and 15 to JD(S).

The civic body results in MP and Rajasthan prove that the Vyapam scam and the Lalit Modi-Vasundhara Raje controversy had no impact. Will it be the same story in Bengaluru where the Congress has been harping on the civic mess left behind by the BJP which ruled BBMP for five years?