In what is seen as a setback to the Congress in Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s home turf, the Janata Dal (Secular) and the Bharatiya Janata Party combine captured power in the hung Mysuru Zilla Panchayat with — Nayeema Sultana (JD-S) and Kaiyamballi G. Nataraj (BJP) — being elected to the posts of president and vice-president, respectively, here on Saturday.
Ms. Sultana, who represents Annur constituency in H.D. Kote taluk, defeated Jayamma Shivaswamy (Congress) by a margin of five votes.
While Ms. Sultana polled 27 votes, Ms. Jayamma got 22 votes. Mr. Nataraj, who belonged to the Mugur constituency, also polled 27 votes against Sri Krishna (Congress) who bagged 22 votes.
Even the Independent member has backed the JD(S) and BJP candidates. The Congress was now forced to sit in the Opposition despite being the single largest party in the 49-member ZP.
The president’s post had been reserved for BCA (women) and the vice-president’s post to general category.
First Muslim president
With over two-decade long experience in politics, Ms. Sultana, who is the first Muslim to be elected as president of Mysuru ZP, had served as the president of H.D. Kote town panchayat.
She told reporters that she would give priority to drinking water supply and improvement of roads, besides laying emphasis on rural development.
Mr. Nataraj said the newly-elected members have a responsibility with the district reeling under drought. Steps will also be taken to strengthen the party, he said.
Zilla panchayat chief executive officer P.A. Gopal and Additional Commissioner in the office of Regional Commissioner Gayathri assisted Regional Commissioner A.M. Kunjappa in conducting the election. They congratulated the winning candidates. The election triggered jubilation among the JD(S) and BJP supporters, who burst crackers outside the ZP office.
G.T. Deve Gowda and Chikkamadu, JD(S) MLAs, were being greeted by party workers. But K.R. Nagar JD(S) MLA Sa. Ra. Mahesh was conspicuous by his absence.
It is reliably learnt that Mr. Gowda and Mr. Chikkamadu had batted for Ms. Sultana, while Mr. Mahesh reportedly backed JD(S) member Parimala Shyam, who had also filed her nomination papers for the president’s post.
