Ka Pu Siddaveerappa of BJP and M K Suchithra of JD(S) were elected as president and vice-president of the Zilla Panchayat here on Monday.
The victory ensured that the JD(S) and BJP coalition continued for the second term and kept the opposition party Congress at bay.
While Siddaveerappa overcame his opponent M Mahadevu by four votes, Suchithra also trounced her rival S Bhramaramba of Congress by an equal number of votes. Siddaveerappa and Suchithra both bagged 25 votes whereas Mahadevu and Bhramaramba garnered 21 votes each.
Regional commissioner M V Jayanthi, who was the returning officer for the election, announced that Siddaveerappa and Suchitra were elected as president and vice-president respectively.
The newly-elected president and vice-president will serve from October 11, 2012, to June 10, 2014. Independent candidate Madappa cast his vote in favour of Siddaveerappa and Suchitra.
For the president’s election, Siddaveerappa had filed three sets of nomination papers, whereas Mahadevu had file one set. Meanwhile Suchitra had filed two sets of papers and Bhramaramba and M Rajalakshmi of JD(S) had filed one set each. Rajalakshmi later withdrew her nomination in favour of Suchitra.
The zilla panchayat comprises 46 seats, with Congress having 21, JD(S) 16, BJP 8 and one independent.
Even though there was no majority for any party, the coalition of JD(S) and BJP had ensured that J Suneetha Veerappagowda and Bhagyashivamurthy of JD(S) served as presidents and Shivaram and Bhagyalakshmi were the vice-presidents until now.
Both JD(S) and BJP coalition continued for the second term, ensuring that Congress would continue to be in the opposition.
Grants
Speaking to mediapersons after his victory, Siddaveerappa said his priority would be to effectively utilise both state and Central government grants for providing adequate drinking water in the region. Also, roads and sanitation would be provided adequate funds. Mentioning that the ZP had lagged in implementation of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, Siddaveerappa said he would try to implement the projects.
Observing that drought had continued to play havoc in the region, Suchitra said she would give importance to solving drinking water issues.
As the results were announced, JD(S) and BJP party members celebrated by bursting crackers on the Zilla Panchayat premises.
Pushpavathi, member from Dharmapura in Hunsur taluk, congratulated the president and vice-president by offering them saplings. She had also presented saplings when Bhagyashivamurthy and Bhagyalakshmi were elected.
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