With elections to the posts of president and vice-president of the Bijapur Zilla Panchayat scheduled for November 28, hectic lobbying is on by the aspirants in the ruling Congress.
In the 38-member panchayat, there are 20 members of the Congress, 15 of the Bharatiya Janata Party, two of the Janata Dal (Secular) and one Independent.
In the last term, the president’s post was reserved for a Scheduled Caste (woman). Despite having the numbers, the Congress could not contest the election to the post as the party did not have a woman candidate belonging to the Scheduled Caste. The post went to BJP’s Savitribai Angadi and she was the zilla panchayat president for the last 20 months.
To have simple majority in the panchayat, a party should have 20 members. In the last term, however, the Congress had only 19 seats. In the byelection held after the death of BJP member Kamalabai Mayavanshi, Congress candidate Mamita Chowhan won and increased the party’s tally to 20.
Reservation
This time, there are many aspirants in the Congress for the president’s post as it is reserved for a general category (woman). The names of Jyoti Desai, Ratnabai Chinagundi, Kavya Desai, Boramma Sasanur and Jyoti Koli are doing the rounds for the post.
The post of the vice-president is reserved for backward classes (2A) category, and prominent among the aspirants are Tammanna Hangaragi and Gurungouda Patil.
While the aspirants are busy lobbying for the post, Congress leaders, keeping an eye on the coming Assembly elections, are reportedly making plans to ensure that their loyalists get the posts.
The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) is sending its observers to Bijapur on November 25 to hold discussions with local leaders to ensure smooth elections.
The elections are scheduled for November 28
