A tough fight is brewing among Yadgir Zilla Panchayat members Basanagowda Patil Yadiyapur, Rajeshree Raghunath Reddy and Shranamma Nagappa for the panchayat president post as Rajshekhargowda Patil Vajjal, who was in power for 18 months, resigned following a direction from the party.
The zilla panchyat, which had 24 members after the 2016 election, now has 22 members following the death of two members. As no party could obtain a majority in 2016 to run the panchayat on its own, the Congress, which won 12 seats, and the Janata Dal(S), which won one seat, joined hands together to come to power in the panchayat, keeping the BJP, which had won 11 seats, out.
Now, the same alliance can continue to be power if leaders from both the Congress and the Janata Dal(S) agree. At present, the Congress has 11 seats, the Janata Dal(S) one and the BJP 10 seats, and the majority mark is 12 seats. The term of the House will end by April-May 2021.
As many as 18 months ago, there was a tough competition between Mr. Vajjal and Mr Yadiyapur but the party high command gave an opportunity to Mr. Vajjal after prolonged discussions.
According to sources, a meeting was called to discuss the issue recently. Mr. Yadiyapur strongly appealed to MLA Sharanabasappagouda Darshanapur, the former MLA Raja Venkatappa Naik, DCC president Marigowda Hulakal and all zilla panchayat members, who were present, that he should be named this time as he had yielded to Mr. Vajjal last time after the party assured him of power.
“We have collected opinion from leaders and all members. But, the party will finalise the name of the candidate only after the resignation submitted by Mr. Vajjal is accepted,” Mr. Hulakal told The Hindu over phone.
Although there was a detailed discussions at the meeting, the party leaders are keen on electing Ms. Sharanamma Nagappa as panchayat president and Ms. Rajeshree Raghunath Reddy as panchayat vice-president. If this happens, Mr. Yadiyapur will lose a chance to become panchayat president this time too.