Row over religious prayers on Gangolli gram panchayat premises; MLA protests

Condemning the prayers offered by the Moulwi, Byndoor MLA Gururaj Gantihole, in association with the Hindu Hitha Rakshana Samiti, led a protest outside the Panchayat office on Friday.

Udupi: A controversy has erupted in Gangolli gram panchayat of Kundapura taluk after religious prayers were conducted by a Muslim cleric, along with ‘Homa’ by the Hindu elected members, during an oath-taking ceremony.

Condemning the prayers offered by the Moulwi, Byndoor MLA Gururaj Gantihole, in association with the Hindu Hitha Rakshana Samiti, led a protest outside the Panchayat office here on Friday.

During the oath-taking ceremony on Thursday, the designated president and the vice-president allegedly held religious prayers -- “Homa” ritual and a Muslim prayer -- on the gram panchayat premises. Videos of the prayers have gone viral on social media.

Gantihole accused the Congress for entering into an alliance with the SDPI. He demanded action against the SDPI for conducting religious prayers within the Panchayat building.

“We oppose the Congress which lacks any ideological commitment, for facilitating illegal activities in government buildings for their political gain. On one hand, the Congress calls for banning the SDPI. On the other hand, it has entered into an alliance with the SDPI for coming to power. By compromising their principles for power, the Congress has shown that their priority lies solely in authority,” said Gantihole.

In the elections held on December 8 for the 33 seats in the Gram Panchayat, the Congress-supported candidates secured 12 seats, BJP-supported candidates won 12, and the SDPI-backed candidates won six seats. With the SDPI’s support, the Congress came to power in the Panchayat.

Accordingly, the Congress supported candidate Jayanthi Kharvi became the president and the SDPI-supported member Mohammed Tabraz was elected as the vice-president. Mohammed Tabraz said, "While president Jayanthi Kharvi held a ‘Homa’, our religious leader offered a ‘Dua’ for the welfare of the village. However, BJP leaders raised an objection for offering ‘Dua’".