Bangalore, March 15: The BJP in power in a south Indian state may well end up as a one-time affair as the party was routed in the just-concluded Karnataka municipal polls that came two months ahead of the assembly elections.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, generally perceived to enjoy large support in urban areas, lost heavily in the March 7 polls for the 207 urban local bodies (ULBs). The BJP's performance this time, when it is in power for the first time in the state, was worse than the last ULB elections in 2007, a clear reflection of the disenchantment of urban voters with the party.
The BJP state leaders have blamed lack of unity and formation of two parties by two former BJP men - the party's first chief minister in the state B.S. Yeddyurappa and former minister B. Sriramulu - for the poor show.
However, apart from statements that the party is capable of taking "corrective measures" to win the assembly polls, neither the state nor the central leaders of the party have given any indication of what plans they have to retain power.
The defeat in the ULB polls is unlikely to bring any unity as the party performed poorly on the home turf of most of the state leaders - Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, his predecessor D.V. Sadananda Gowda, state unit president K.S. Eshwarappa and strong contenders for his post and Lok Sabha members Pralhad Joshi and Nalin Kumar Kateel.
Gowda and Kateel are from coastal Karnataka, Joshi is from Shettar's home district of Dharwad in north Karnataka and Eshwarappa is from central Karnataka district of Shimoga, which is also Yeddyurappa's political base.
