K. Gopal Poojary, Byndoor MLA, on Tuesday resigned from his post as president of Udupi District Congress Committee accepting moral responsibility for the defeat of the Congress in the zilla and taluk panchayat elections in the district. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) retained the Udupi Zilla Panchayat and the three taluk panchayats of Udupi, Kundapur and Karkala with an increased majority.
Mr. Poojary told The Hindu over telephone that the results were “totally unexpected” as he had expected the party to get at least 16 or 17 seats in the zilla panchayat. He had dispatched his resignation letter addressed to the president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee G. Parameshwara. “I accept full responsibility for the defeat. I feel that the time has come for a new face to head the party unit here. The youth should be given a chance to head the party unit and rejuvenate it,” he said.
About the reasons for the defeat, Mr. Poojary said that the BJP had taken up a misinformation campaign against the Congress and that had worked in its favour. Though the party workers had worked hard, they might have failed to take the programmes of the government to the people.
