Silvester D'Souza
Daijiworld Media Network - Kundapur

Kundapur, Jul 9: In an amusing incident, a former gram panchayat president, showing his exceptional love for the proverbial chair, bought a special chair with his own money and sat on it during the panchayat meeting!

The incident took place at Ajri gram panchayat here on Wednesday July 8.

Former president of Ajri gram panchayat Govind Shetty, who had contested as an independent candidate and won, on Wednesday attended the general meeting of the panchayat members. However, he did not come empty handed. Much to the amusement of other members, he brought along a brand new chair upholstered with a cushion.

Having sat on the gram president's chair before, it is said that Shetty couldn't bear to sit on the ordinary chairs provided to the members, and hence made his own arrangement to buy a new chair and brought it to the meeting!

In no time, the special chair became the topic of heated discussion and led to a war of words during the meeting. "All gram panchayat members are equal. There should be no discrimination and everyone should sit on the ordinary chairs. It is not right for any member to get his own chair to the panchayat. Either the chair should be handed over to the panchayat or taken back home," the members contended.

But Govind Shetty did not budge. He thereby became probably the first person in the state to bring his own chair to a gram panchayat meeting!