Wednesday, Nov 17, 2004
Wednesday, Nov 17, 2004 |
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Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Karnataka
By Muralidhara Khajane
HASSAN, NOV. 16. Though the coalition partners, the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular), are sharing power in the State, the Congress is said to be making efforts to unseat the Janata Dal (S)-supported president and vice-president of the Hassan Zilla Panchayat. In a significant development, the Congress has been able to pull back two of its members, who had crossed the floor a year ago, along with two Janata Dal (S) members, to destabilise the Janata Dal (S)-controlled panchayat. With this, the 20 members of the Congress have sent a letter to the panchayat president, G.T. Indira, on November 12 urging her to convene a meeting to move a no-confidence motion. According to the Chief Executive Officer of the panchayat, F.R. Jamaadar, he has sent the letter to the panchayat president and it is now her responsibility to fix a date for the meeting. This has to be done in 15 days. If the panchayat president fails to convene the meeting, the panchayat vice-president will acquire the right to convene the meeting. Mr. Jamaadar will, however, be forced to convene a meeting on the failure of the latter to comply with the request of the Congress members. With four members switching loyalty, the strength of the Janata Dal (S) has come down to 17. Malla Nayak and Thammayya of the Congress who supported the Janata Dal (S) and were instrumental in the Congress losing power in the panchayat on November 16, 2003, have now returned to the Congress. Ramachandra and Radhamani of the Janata Dal (S) have also switched their loyalty to the Congress. The development is seen as a serious jolt to the Janata Dal (S), as election to the posts of chairpersons of standing committees is scheduled for Wednesday. Speaking to The Hindu, the panchayat vice-president, T.D. Khande Rao, said he was shocked by the unexpected development. He said he was not aware of the reason for the four members switching loyalty to the Congress.
High drama
The former President, G.S. Gurusiddappa, Ms. Indira, Mr. Rao, Mr. Nayak and Mr. Thammayya had joined the Janata Dal (S) in November last. The Janata Dal (S) leaders had packed them off to an undisclosed location. On November 17, amid high drama Ms. Indira, and Mr. Rao were elected as the panchayat president and vice-president. H.D. Kumaraswamy had an important role to play when H.C. Srikantaiah was the Revenue and district in-charge Minister and G. Puttaswamy Gowda was the MP. Now, the Janata Dal (S) is facing a similar situation. According to sources in the District Congress Committee, the latest development is the handiwork of Mr. Srikantaiah and the Gandsi MLA, B. Shivaram, who were at loggerheads earlier. Mr. Shivaram and Mr. Puttaswamy Gowda recently blamed the district in-charge Minister, H.D. Revanna, for the Dyapalapura incident.
Differences
The differences between the Congress and the Janata Dal (S) came to the fore during the recent visit of the Chief Minister, N. Dharam Singh, to the district to launch development works. A few Congress workers even went to the extent of staging a black flag demonstration against the visit of the Chief Minister to Holenarsipur. Mr. Dharam Singh visited the Congress office in Hassan and assuaged the feelings of the party workers. Those who have switched over to the Congress now have said that they quit the Janata Dal (S) because of the "conduct" of Mr. Revanna and the panchayat president and vice-president. However, Mr. Khande Rao said Mr. Nayak and Mr. Thammayya had sought the posts of chairpersons of the health, education and social justice committees and they had been promised of it when they had switched over for the first time. They could have sorted out differences with the Janata Dal (S) leaders, Mr. Khande Rao said. The Congress sources disclosed that the former Minister, D.K. Shivakumar, had also played an important role in the latest development. It was also an attempt by Mr. Shivaram to convince the party High Command that he was capable of taking on the former Prime Minister, H.D. Deve Gowda, and Mr. Revanna, though the party had two political heavyweights in Mr. Puttaswamy Gowda and Mr. Srikantaiah. Meanwhile, there is also talk of a possibility of the panchayat being superseded by appointing an administrator.
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