Congress member Shivayogappa Nedalgi was elected president of Vijayapura Zilla Panchayat on Monday.
Mr. Nedalgi secured 21 votes — 18 from the Congress, two from JD(S), and one from an Independent member — and sailed to victory with ease. Sabu Mashyal of the BJP got 17 votes. By winning the president’s post, the Congress retained power in the ZP despite having only 18 seats. The BJP had emerged as the single largest party with 20 seats.
In the first election to the post held about 30 months ago, Neelamma Meti of the Congress was elected. But as per an understanding within the Congress, she relinquished the post to pave way for another member to become president.
Interestingly, in the 42-member ZP, four female members of the BJP — Sridevi Aiholli, Padmavati Walikar, Prabhavati Patil and Vijayalakshmi Nagur — remained absent from voting, which helped the Congress candidate romp to victory.
Congress leaders such as Home Minister M.B. Patil, Health Minister Shivananda Patil, and Indi MLA Yeshwantraigouda Patil are said to have played a crucial role in keeping them away from the voting.
When the election process began being monitored by Regional Commissioner of Belagavi P.A. Meghannavar, some five members had filed their nominations, four of them from the BJP. However, two members — Naveen Arakeri and Bhimashankar Biradar — withdrew their nominations, leaving three persons in the fray, including Binduraya Patil of the BJP who was not the official candidate.
Interestingly, when Mr. Meghannavar asked the members to raise their hands to vote for Mr. Binduraya, no one, including Mr. Binduraya, did so. Many members were seen chuckling at this.
No member raised hand against the candidature of Mr. Nedalgi.
However, according to sources, Mr. Nedalgi has been elected only for 15 months. After this period, he will have to resign and allow another Congress member to take over the post.