ZP setback: Siddaramaiah, Kharge lose home turf, no place to hide
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had campaigned vigorously for the ZP elections in Mysuru.
Mysuru: If the BJP lost the Shivamogga zilla panchayat to the Congress-JDS in the hometown of its state party leader and former Chief Minister, B S Yeddyurappa, the Congress had to humble pie on Saturday in Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's hometown of Mysuru with the JDS backing the BJP this time to gain control of the zilla panchayat here, winning the post of president and making sure the BJP won the vice president's.
No party has secured a majority in Mysuru ZP. While the Congress has won 22 of the 49 seats, the JDS has 18 and the BJP, 8. The last seat is held by an independent. The post of ZP president was reserved for a woman from the backward class "A" and the vice president’s for the general category.
Ms Nahima Sulthan of the JDS won 27 votes to defeat the Congress candidate, Jayamma, who received only 22. Mr Kayyamballi Nataraj of the BJP became vice president with 27 votes, defeating Congress candidate Krishna, who also bagged 22.
With control of the Mysuru ZP being a matter of prestige for the Congress, the JDS and BJP zilla panchayat members were taken to a resort near Bengaluru until Saturday morning to prevent any horse trading.
The fact that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had campaigned vigorously for the ZP elections in Mysuru and the Congress was just short of three votes to win Saturday’s elections, had left both parties jittery. But they were able to carry off their strategy, depriving the Congress of power in this important local body.
Resurgent BJP defeated the Congress
A resurgent BJP defeated the Congress , bagging both posts of president and vice-president in the Kalaburgi Zilla Panchayat on Saturday.
While Ms Suvarna Malaji Hanumanthraya of the party was elected president, Ms Shobha Siddu Sirasagi , also of the BJP bagged the vice-president post on Saturday . The two received 25 votes each in a House of 47 members.
Besides its 24 votes, the BJP got the vote of the JD(S) as well, leaving Congress candidates, Vijaylakshmi Vaijanath Tadkal and Gowramma Jaibheem for both posts trailing with only 22 votes each. They however received one vote more than their actual strength of 21 in the local body.
Despite having a majority in the House ,the going was not easy for the saffron party as senior Congress leader , Mallikarjun Kharge, who arrived from Delhi, reportedly made every effort to take control of the zilla panchayat.
According to sources, the Congress tried to win over the JD(U) and JD(S) members and some disgruntled fence sitters in the BJP. But it did not succeed as the saffron party sent its members off on a trip to Goa and other tourist places to stop then from being poached.
But on their way back to Kalaburagi on Saturday the convoy of cars carrying the BJP members was allegedly stopped at the Sedam check post by the police as a stalling tactic to prevent them from voting in the ZP elections.
