Pawar new chief of Mysore BJP

Former Narasimharaja (NR) MLA E Maruthi Rao Pawar was elected as the president of BJP city unit on Sunday. Yashaswini Somashekar was elected general secretary.

Pawar finally emerged lucky amid stiff competition posed by former chairman of Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) L Nagendra, senior leader Yashaswini Somashekar and Ganesh Rao, at the elections held at Pandit Narayanacharya Choultry on Chamaraja Double road here.

Former minister C T Ravi, who had arrived as poll observer, brokered truce between the contestants and announced the name of Pawar. To placate Somashekar, he was made general secretary.

It is the second term for Pawar, who had earlier held the post from the year 1992 to 95.
However, during the recent Assembly elections, he was miffed at the higher ups, as he was denied ticket to contest from N R constituency.

Previously, he had defected to Janata Dal (Secular) and had later returned to the BJP fold.
M Hemanth Kumar Gowda was elected president of BJP district (rural) unit, while former ZP vice-president K Shivaram was made general secretary. Former chairman of Karnataka Exhibition Authority (KEA) S D Mahendra, former chairman of Mysore Paints and Varnish Ltd M V Ravishankarwere among the strong contenders for the post.

Ramdas appears

Former minister S A Ramdas, who had remained ‘recluse’ after the defeat in the recently-held Assembly elections, made a surprise appearance during the polls. He remained throughout the elections. However, elections to Krishnaraja Assembly unit, the fiefdom of Ramdas is yet to be conducted. Recently, a section of leaders had demanded for stopping the poll process following the absence of Ramdas.