Karnataka   

Congress supports BJP in Karwar CMC election

Happy: Karwar City Municipal Council president Ganapati Ulvekar and and vice-president Nayana Malsekar seen with Minister for Fisheries Anand Asnotikar after their victory in the CMC poll.

Karwar: Congress suffered a severe setback in Karwar City Municipal Council (CMC) on Saturday when 12 of its 17 elected members joined hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party to elect the president and vice-president of the CMC.

Despite all the efforts by the district Congress committee members, a majority of the Congress members defied the whip and elected BJP supported candidates Ganapati Ulvekar and Nayana Malsekar the president and vice-president respectively. The CMC has 31 members and of them one has resigned. All the 30 members were present when the polling took place.

Congress candidates Sandeep Talekar and Rameeja Sheik who contested for the post of president and vice-president respectively polled only six votes each. The BJP supported candidates polled 25 votes each.

The Congress, which had issued the whip to all its members including the rebels, could not keep its flock together. Later, the rebel members denied the claim of the district Congress president that that they were issued any whip at all.

Sequence of events

The drama unfolded in the morning when Mr. Ulvekar and his supporters submitted a memorandum to Returning Officer O. Kishanchand. The supporters of Mr. Ulvekar said that they had formed a splinter group of the Congress and that they should be treated as unattached members. They said that they would not attract the provisions of the Anti-defection Law as the group formed by them comprised one-third the Congress party members in the CMC. Later, Mr. Ulvekar filed his nomination papers. But during the scrutiny, Congress candidates objected to the acceptance of the nomination papers of Mr. Ulvekar and Ms. Malsekar. They said that the Congress party had issued a whip to its members but it was being defied. But the Returning Officer accepted the papers saying they were in order.

After giving some time to the candidates to withdraw their nomination papers, the Returning Officer commenced the voting process.

Minister for Fisheries Anand Asnotikar cast his vote in favour of the BJP supported candidates.

Mr. Ulvekar and Ms. Malsekar got the support of 5 BJP members, 7 Independents, and 12 votes from the splinter group of the Congress and one vote of Mr. Asnotikar.

The Congress candidates secured four votes of the Congress members, one each of a JD (S) member and an Independent.

The Congress had requested the Deputy Commissioner to bar the Independent members, who claimed that they had joined the BJP, from casting their votes. In the evening, a show cause notice was served on them by the district administration seeking explanation about their claim that they had joined the BJP.

After victory of the BJP supported candidates, Minister Anand Asnotikar and Mr. Ganapati Ulvekar gave the credit of the victory to the developmental works successfully undertaken by the BJP Government.

On the occasion, Mr. Ulvekar promised he would work hard for the overall development of Karwar city.

Security was tightened at the municipal hall where president and vice president in the CMC were elected.

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