Establishing a slight edge over BJP in a closely fought race in urban local bodies polls in Karnataka, the Congress is set to gain control of a majority of the ULBs, teaming up with its ruling coalition partner JDS. The Congress has secured 982 seats and the BJP 929 in the elections held on Saturday, while JD(S) came a distant third with 375 seats, according to the state election commission results.

The others, including 329 independents, bagged the rest of the seats in the three-way race with Congress and JDS fighting against each other, despite being coalition partners. Both the Congress and JDS have declared that they would tie-up in ULBs, which have produced a hung verdict.