Mysuru, Aug 25 (IANS): In a first, the ruling BJP in Karnataka managed to grab the post of Mayor in the Mysuru City Corporation on Wednesday.

Bagging the coveted post for the party in Mysuru, known as the cultural capital of Karnataka, is a significant development for the saffron party.

BJP's Sunanda Palanetra, a relative of former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, has been elected as Mayor of Mysuru City Corporation after the coalition between JD(S) and Congress fell apart.

Sunanda garnered 26 votes, while the Congress nominee for the post, Shanthakumari, secured 22 votes. The JD(S) remained neutral in the polls.

Shocked by the result, Congress members staged a walkout after its defeat.

The Mayor's post fell vacant after the high court disqualified Rukmini Made Gowda of JD(S) for submitting false property details in her affidavit.

Though the BJP emerged as the single largest party in the civic polls, the Congress and the JD(S) came together and installed their candidate for the mayoral post.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has congratulated the party leaders for winning the Mayor's post for the first time in Mysuru.

Yediyurappa on his part stated that the win symbolises the strengthening of the BJP in the region.

The BJP has been trying to make inroads in the south Karnataka region, especially in Mysuru, considered to be the bastion of the Congress and the JD(S).

Opposition leader Siddaramaiah and former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy had dominated politics in the region so far.

As per some sources, the BJP managed to make a secret pact with the JD(S) this time to win the coveted post.

However, S.T. Somashekar, the district in-charge minister for Mysuru, denied the charge and said that the party won because the BJP candidate secured the maximum number of votes.

The Mysuru City Corporation, then a municipality, was established on July 8, 1862. It became the Mysuru City Corporation in 1979.