Dhar (Madhya Pradesh): Two independent candidates who emerged victorious during the district panchayat elections here in Dhar will play a crucial role as both BJP and Congress have secured 13 seats each out of total 28 here.
Now both the party leaders are trying their best to woo the independent winners to strengthen their position for president post in the district panchayat.
According to information, the current district panchayat president Mohan Patel, who has occupied the coveted post for eight years, miserably lost the election from Ward No 11, while former district panchayat president Manoj Singh Gautam has won the election.
Initially, the BJP had not declared its candidate for Ward 14 but later the partyís district president declared that Manoj Gautam would contest as the party candidate from this ward, and he won. Former district panchayat member Dinesh Girwal also lost the election. He was a district panchayat member in the past and had contested the Parliamentary election on a Congress ticket but was defeated and has crossed over to the BJP along with Industries Minister Dattigaon.
Both the party leaders are claiming that they will get a majority. District BJP president Raju Yadav and district Congress president Balmukund Singh Gautam are confident of forming the district panchayat. A meeting has taken place between Gautam and former minister Gandhwani MLA Umang Singar, although both are staunch opponents of each other but it seems that they are willing to bury the hatchet if it results in Congress forming the panchayat.
