Tension prevailed outside the zilla panchayat auditorium here on Monday, when two women ZP members allegedly manhandled a woman constable while protesting against ZP president Soubhagya Basavarajan demanding her resignation. The incident occurred during the Karnataka Development Programme (KDP) monthly review meeting.
The supporters of some ZP members started raising slogans against the president seeking her resignation in order to ensure that another Congress member is given a chance to become president. Soubhagya Basavarajan sought police security to enter the meeting hall and there was an argument between the police and ZP members.
When the police tried to forcibly stop the women ZP members from protesting, the latter allegedly manhandled the woman constable. Other members present at the venue helped the police to bring the situation under control. The meeting began after the ZP president entered the hall with police protection.
Background
There are a total of 37 members in the Chitraduga zilla panchayat, with 23 members from the Congress party. After the last ZP elections, the president’s post was given to Soubhagya Basavarajan in the month of May 2016 with the oral condition of the members that she would quit the post after one year in order to give a chance to other members of the Congress to become president.
But she was not ready to quit and had started lobbying with the support of some senior Congress leaders in the district to continue in the post.