Karnataka municipal election: 25 injured in acid attack at Congress celebration rally in Tumakuru

Twenty-five people were injured as acid was thrown on them during the victory procession of victorious Congress candidate Inayatullah Khan in Tumakuru on Monday. This incident comes after reports that Congress and Janata Dal-Secular [JD(S)] may enter into an alliance in the Tumakuru and Mysuru municipal corporations.

The police have launched an investigation into the case. A search operation is underway to nab the attackers. Quoting political experts, News18 reported that Congress and JD(S) may enter into an alliance in the two civic bodies mentioned above with an objective to keep BJP away from power. The two parties together have the majority. The BJP won 13 seats to the Tumakuru Municipal Corporation followed by the JD(S) at seven seats. The Congress won just three wards while Independent candidates won two wards each. The ULB polls are important for the BJP, which had emerged as the single largest party during the Assembly election, to assess its popularity across the state. Before Yeddyurappa was supposed to face the floor test on 19 May, he gave an emotional speech and resigned as the chief minister. He said that he was stepping down even though the mandate wasn’t for Congress or JD(S), and called their alliance “unholy ". Out of the total of 2,664 wards, the Congress has won 982 seats, BJP 927, JD(S) 375, BSP 13 and others have won 363 seats. In all, 8,340 candidates, including 2,306 from the Congress, 2,203 from the BJP and 1,397 from the JD(S) are in the fray for the ULBs, while 814 contested from the city corporations, including 135 from Congress, 130 from BJP and 129 from JD(S). In the event of a party not getting the majority on its own in the election, Congress and JD(S) have decided to forge a post-poll alliance to keep BJP out of power, similar to the 12 May state Assembly election which threw up a hung verdict, a JD(S) official told IANS earlier. In the 2013 ULB elections held in 4,976 seats, the Congress had won 1,960 seats, while BJP and JD(S) had won 905 seats each, while Independents bagged the remaining 1,206 seats. Follow LIVE updates on Karnataka municipal election results here Follow the latest tally of votes here With inputs from agencies