Polling to the Naranja Sahakari Sakkare Karakhane on the factory premises near Bidar, was peaceful on Saturday.
Nearly half the 22,000 voters exercised their franchise, according to preliminary reports. Officials had put up 36 booths, divided according to taluks. Voters queued up in the hot sun to cast their votes. As many as 13 persons are fighting for the 10 seats on the board of directors. Four of them, including the outgoing president and BJP MLA Gurupadappa Nagamarapalli, have been elected unopposed already.
After voting, Mr. Nagamarapalli told presspersons that local BJP leaders had betrayed him. “They come to me for donations and call me for party meetings. But when it comes to elections, the district unit
fields candidates against me. Is this justified? Are there two BJPs – one for me and the other for others?” he said. He accused senior leader Jagadish Shettar of siding with his detractors and complained
that State president Prahlad Joshi had not helped him despite requests to broker peace between the two factions.
