The District Congress Committee has reportedly given an assurance that it would look into the re-allocation of posts of various standing committees in the district panchayat, a bone of contention on which seven members belonging to ‘I’ group of the ruling Congress abstained when the budget was presented in the panchayat committee last week.
The absence of seven members resulted in not putting the budget for voting on February 18 as it would have caught the ruling party in a tight spot. In the 26-member panchayat committee, UDF has 14 members, two of them belonging to Socialist Janata (Democratic), and LDF 12 members.
A ruling party member in the civic body said those who stayed away from the last meeting have agreed to attend the next committee meet to be convened on Friday to pass the budget.
Former president of district panchayat, Remani P. Nair, who was part of the seven-member group, told The Hindu that “as directed by the party we all will be attending the meeting and allow smooth passage of the budget.”
Asked whether their grievances were addressed, she said the DCC had convened a meeting on February 22 to discuss issues raised by ‘I’ group members. The meeting, she said, was very fruitful.
Meanwhile, members belonging to the LDF held a demonstration in front of the district panchayat office on Wednesday demanding resignation of president Ansajitha Ressal for failing to pass the budget on the day it was presented. The party also wanted the budget to be withdrawn as it was a ‘replica’ of the current year’s budget.
