Bengaluru: The Congress on Thursday emerged as the single largest party in the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) polls as it raced past the ruling BJP after winning 501 seats out of 1,184 total seats in Karnataka.

The 58 ULBs consisting of 1,184 seats went to polls on Dec. 27 and the results were announced yesterday.

BJP emerged as the second largest party by winning 433 seats, JD(S) 45 and others 205, the State Election Commission said.

Of the 166 City Municipal Council wards, Congress won 61, BJP 67, JD(S) 12 and others 26.

Of the 441 Town Municipal Council wards, Congress won 201, BJP 176 and JD(S) 21. Of the 588 wards of Town Panchayats, Congress bagged 236, BJP 194 and JD(S) 12 while others won in 135 wards.

Commenting on the results, CM Basavaraj Bommai said the BJP has done well, but was expected to do better. “Our party has not been doing well in wards where minorities are the dominant community. Despite this, we have succeeded in making some improvement, but we were expecting better performance. The Government will take up development works in these wards without any discrimination,” he said.