With elections to office-bearers and governing council of the prestigious Hyderabad Karnataka Education Society (HKES) set to be held on Friday, the two contending panels — one led by incumbent president Basavaraj Bhimalli and the other by Bhimashanakar Bilgundi — are not only coming up with attractive promises to lure voters but also accusing each other of corruption.
Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, the panel led by Mr. Bilgundi unleashed an attack on Mr. Bhimalli and his associates with a host of allegations, including irregularities in financial matters and overall functioning of HKES.
The panel members, supported by BJP leaders B.G. Patil, MLC, and Shashil Namoshi, former MLC and former HKES president, had alleged that Mr. Bhimalli had misused his power as president of HKES to serve his own interests. They had also promised that their panel, if voted to power, would put an administrative mechanism in place to ensure transparency.
“Most of the decisions are taken by Mr. Bhimalli alone. He functions more from his residence than office so that he can continue with his corrupt practises. Fed up with his autocratic functioning and preferential treatment, most of the members want to oust him in the next election,” said Mr. Patil.
Mr. Namoshi had alleged that Mr. Bhimalli and his associates had managed to access the ballot papers, before destroying them. “Mr. Bhimalli knew exactly who had voted for him. When some members approached him for help, he told them that they had not voted for him and he would not help,” he had said.
Counter attack
Countering this attack at a press meet on Wednesday, Mr. Bhimalli said Mr. Bilgundi and his panel members were strongly supported by the “most corrupt” people.
“Mr. Namoshi is the most corrupt person. Because of his maladministration and corruption, the HKES suffered huge losses during his tenure as president. We, on the other hand, gave clean and transparent governance. There is not a single scam reported during our tenure,” Mr. Bhimalli said.
He dismissed the allegations of illegal access of used ballot papers.
Both the panels have released a set of promises covering wide range of issues concerning the infrastructure and academic development in educational institutions run by HKES as wells addressing the interests of HKES members.
