MANGALURU/ MYSURU: The unexpectedly good fight put up by two political outfits — Social Democratic Party of India ( SDPI ) and Bahujan Samaj Party ( BSP ) — in elections to urban local bodies (ULBs) has become a cause for concern for major players in the state, as both walked away with double digit victory seats.SDPI contested 87 seats in Dakshina Kannada , Mysuru and Shivamogga districts, and won 18. The BSP won 13 of the total 142 it contested.The major gains for SDPI came from Dakshina Kannada district, as it contested 24 seats here and won 11 -- 6 in Ullal, 4 in Bantwal and one in Puttur. Of the 24 candidates, seven are women and all of them won.Dakshina Kannada SDPI president Athavullah Jokatte said his party represented the aspirations of minorities and Dalits betrayed by the Congress, and the ULB polls have shown that they can make a difference.Atavullah said: “We know our strengths and based on our internal surveys, we contested where we had the best chance and that paid rich dividends. We could have contested all 89 seats in Dakshina Kannada, but it would have been an exercise in futility.” He said all the women candidates are well educated and in the age group of 25 to 30 years.In Mysuru, the SDPI’s performance has been striking, as they won six of seven wards they contested in Chamarajanagar, and came second in four wards. They lost one MCC ward by 72 votes.SDPI’s national general secretary KH Abdul Majid said: “Ours is a cadre-based party and all our activists work at the grassroot level, helping people in their daily routine besides extending a voice to the voiceless.”SDPI first contested in the 2013 polls and registered its presence in the assembly constituencies of Mangaluru (earlier Ullal) and Bantwal. It was successful in capturing votes of minorities and Dalits disgruntled with the two national parties.In the 2018 polls, RSS leader Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat had admitted that SDPI had grown as a force, especially in the past two years.Bhat noted that there’s a segment of population which supports the SDPI, which was proved true in the ULB polls, and all their wins have come from minority dominated areas. Minister U T Khader said the SDPI votes represent a percentage that is anti-Congress.Meanwhile, BSP won 13 wards – nine in Kollegal and one each in Chamarajanagar, MCC, HD Kote and Chincholi. “It is remarkable progress for BSP in Karnataka as our vote share has gone up. We have surpassed the Congress in the ULBs. For the first time, we have won outside Chamarajanagar,” primary and secondary education minister N Mahesh, the lone BSP member in the assembly, said.Mahesh attributed the success to him winning the assembly polls and being inducted into the cabinet. “Now we want to contest all 28 parliamentary seats, but it depends on our national leaders,” he added.

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