Efforts of the Congress to snatch the Raichur Zilla Panchayat from the Bharatiya Janata Party- Janata Dal (Secular) alliance were in vain as the two parties struck a deal to continue the coalition for another term when election to the posts of president and vice-president were held on Wednesday.
BJP candidate Adimani Veeralakshmi from the Salagunda Zilla Panchayat constituency and JD(S) candidate Geetha Vajjal from the Nagalapur constituency were elected as president and vice-president, respectively.
The posts are reserved for Backward Class A woman, and General category, respectively. Both the candidates polled 26 votes in the 38-member House. Congress candidates Shahida Begum, a member from the Hutti Zilla Panchayat constituency, and Basavaraj Hiregowdar, a member from the Raudakunda Zilla Panchayat constituency, who contested for the posts of president and vice-president, respectively, polled 12 votes each.
The election was presided over by Regional Commissioner (Kalaburagi) Amlan Aditya Biswas in the presence of Raichur Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer Kurma Rao.
BJP and JD(S) workers celebrated the victory by smearing colours on each other. Despite the open alliance between BJP and JD(S) that determined the results before the election, Congress continued to try its luck till last moment by fielding its candidates.
No party had won enough seats to come to power in the elections. BJP emerged as the single largest party with 17 seats followed by the Congress and the JD(S) which bagged 12 and 9 seats, respectively. Ms. Veeralakshmi Ms. Vajjal said that their priorities would be drinking water, sanitation and education.
