A resurgent BJP regained power in the Kalaburagi Zilla Panchayat, winning both the president and vice-president posts with relative ease, defeating the Congress candidates, in the elections held in camera at the Zilla panchayat meeting hall here on Saturday.
Suvarna Malaji, who polled 25 votes, defeated Vijayalakshmi Vaijnath Tadkal of the Congress who polled 22 votes and was elected as president. Shobha Sirasagi polled 25 votes and defeated Congress’s Gowramma Jaibhim, who polled 22 votes, to be elected as the vice-president.
Ms. Malaji was elected from Tadkal constituency in Aland taluk, and Ms. Sirasagi was elected from Gobbur constituency in Afsalpur taluk. While the lone JD(S) member, Devaki Hiremath, who was elected from Nelogi supported the BJP in the elections, the lone JD(U) member, Siddaram Pyati, elected from Jidga constituency in Aland taluk supported the Congress nominees.
Although there were rumours of rebellion in the BJP over the selection of candidates and talk of Congress leaders making efforts to induce defections at the time of voting, there were no surprises and members voted on party lines. In the 47-member House, BJP had a clear majority with 24 members, followed by Congress with 21 members.
Joyous scenes were witnessed outside the meeting hall after the elections with a large crowd of BJP supporters bursting crackers and distributing sweets. Prominent among those who joined the celebrations included Bidar MP Bhagwant Khuba, MLCs Amarnath Patil and B.G. Patil, former MLC Shashil G. Namoshi, former Minister Sunil Valyapur, and Revu Naik Belamagi.
Soon after the elections, Ms. Malaji and Ms. Sirasagi attributed their victory to the untiring efforts of senior party leaders and said that they would work for the development of the district and ensure proper and effective implementation of all schemes.
Mediapersons were barred from entering the meeting hall and even the results were not announced by the presiding officer Amlan Aditya Biswas, but by a junior Zilla Panchayat official.
