KARKALA: Karkala MLA and chief whip of the government in the state assembly V Sunil Kumar had a simple message for party backed cadre who romped home to a comfortable win in the just concluded gram panchayat polls - do not lobby for the post of president or vice-president. The MLA said the party leadership will take a decision on the best candidate for these posts in the larger interest of party organization and seniority.
Felicitating newly elected gram panchayat members of the taluk in the presence of minister C C Patil and district BJP president Kuilady Suresh Nayak, Sunil said the BJP cannot rest on the laurels of having captured power in 31 out of 34 gram panchayats in the taluk as the polls to taluk and zilla panchayats are round the corner. “We lost the opportunity to make a clean sweep thanks to our internal differences which cost us dearly,” the MLA said.
Pointing that a section of elected gram panchayat members are directly or otherwise lobbying for the posts of president and vice-president, the MLA warned that such members will not get the post. “BJP will not forget the toil and sacrifice of each of its workers who have worked to ensure a win for the party in these polls. At the same time, the workers too should not be impatient and trust the party leadership to do justice to their abilities,” he said.
The deputy commissioner will draw up the reservation roster as per merit and this will be the final word on the matter. Once reservations for the posts are announced, the party will decide on the candidates, the MLA said. “Till then, do not talk about it either locally or on social media forums,” he said adding such lobbying is against the ethos of the party. Instead strive to take at least one government scheme to the doorstep of your voter, he suggested.
Nayak said the district unit of BJP will felicitate all victorious party backed candidates in the GP polls at the ‘gram sevak samavesha’ that will be held in Udupi on January 12. Exhorting the victorious candidates to gear up to bolster party’s chances in TP/ZP polls, Nayak also sought their support for the nationwide fund collection drive that VHP is launching for the Ram Temple in Ayodhya starting January 15. M K Vijay Kumar, party leader spoke.