Odisha ULB Polls: The Real 'Game' Will Start Two Years From Now

More than causing headache for the three major contenders - BJP, BJD and Congress, the results of the municipal elections have instead created the possibility of instability sometime in the future in several ULBs.

Odisha ULB Polls: The Real 'Game' Will Start Two Years From Now

The results of the just concluded urban polls have left all three major parties with plenty to think about.

With just 144 out of the 1884 councillor/corporator posts - only marginally above the 138 won by 'others', mainly independents - only seven of the 105 chairperson posts and a measly 12% of the vote share, the Congress clearly has the most to worry about. The fact that it 'improved' on its performance in the three-tier panchayat elections, in which it won just 37 of the 852 zilla parishad seats (accounts for 4%) by notching up 8% of the councillor/corporator posts in the municipal elections is no consolation for the oldest party in the country, which has been in a steady freefall in the state since it lost power in 2000. Nor can the party take solace from the fact that it put up a spirited fight in the election to the Mayor's post in the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) because it managed to secure just one seat out of the 42 in Berhampur Municipal corporation (BeMC), its former bastion.