Cong victory in Kadaba a mandate for guarantees, says Harish Kumar

The seat was decisively won by Cong candidate Thamanna Jabeen who polled 201 votes

- Vincent D'Souza @Mangaluru

IN a stunning political misfire that has left the BJP red-faced in its stronghold of Coastal Karnataka, one of its candidates has returned with a rare and humiliating result - zero votes. The debacle unfolded in the Kadaba Town Panchayat elections, the results of which were announced on Wednesday.

Prema, BJP's candidate from Ward No. 1 (Kalara), failed to secure even a single vote of the 418 polled in the ward. The seat was decisively won by Congress candidate Thamanna Jabeen, who polled 201 votes, defeating the independent contender Jainaabi Adam by a margin of 62 votes. The SDPI candidate in the fray managed to secure 74 votes. The ward, reserved for BCA (Women), had four candidates in the contest.

Prema, who is not a voter in Ward No. 1, had also thrown her hat in the ring in Ward No. 6, where she resides, but the outcome there offered little consolation. She garnered 177 votes and lost to Congress's Neelavathi Shivaram M.S., who polled 314 votes.