The Hindu : Karnataka News : Polls to ZP top posts arouse curiosity

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Friday, Sep 21, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka

Polls to ZP top posts arouse curiosity

Ganesh Prabhu

In the 25-member Udupi ZP, the Congress has 13
There are many contenders in the BJP and Congress

Udupi: The elections to the posts of the president and vice-president of the Udupi Zilla Panchayat scheduled on September 24 have aroused interest because of the wafer thin majority of the Congress, which is the ruling party.

In a house of 25 members, the Congress has 13, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has 12. The post of the panchayat president is open to the general category, while that of the vice-president has been reserved for the Scheduled Caste category. Cross voting by one member can change the fortunes of either party.

There is no dearth of contenders in the Congress for the post.

They include the outgoing panchayat president B.N. Shankar Poojary who represents Perdoor constituency, the former panchayat president Bhujanga Shetty from Brahmavar constituency, zilla panchayat members Raju Poojary from Byndoor and Santosh Kumar Shetty who represents Bajagoli constituency.

Mr. Shankar Poojary told The Hindu that he had decided to put forth his claim to continue as the panchayat president given his track record.

“If necessary I will contest the elections for the post of the panchayat president, but I will not join the BJP as rumoured,” he said.

Sources in the Congress said that Mr. Raju Poojary was the frontrunner among the contenders and most of the Congress leaders were in his favour. Besides, he was supposed to be made the panchayat president 10 months ago as per an agreement in the Congress but it had not materialised and Mr. Shankar Poojary was continued in the post.

President of the Udupi District Congress Committee M.A. Gafoor said that a meeting of the zilla panchayat members had been called on September 22 to decide the candidate for the post. “There is no problem with regard to the post of the vice-president as Sujatha Vasudev from Koteshwar is the only candidate,” he said.

BJP stand

Meanwhile, the BJP has decided to put up its candidates for both the posts. According to sources in the party, the names being considered for the post of the panchayat president are Upendra Nayak from Hiriyadka, B.K. Hegde from Mandarti, Kota Srinivas Poojary from Kota and Gerald Fernandes from Shirva.

The party’s nominee for the post of the vice-president is Babu N.B. who represents Bailoor constituency. President of Udupi district unit of BJP Kota Srinivas Poojary said, “We will take full advantage of the political situation.”

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