Daijiworld Media Network – Bantwal (SP)

Bantwal, Jan 14: The Congress Party members, who had moved a no-confidence motion against the taluk panchayat (TP) president, who is from the BJP, stayed away from the special session convened on Wednesday January 13, to put the motion to vote. All the 17 Congress TP members including vice-president, Chandrahas Karkera, chose not to attend the session.

In the last election, 18 Congressmen and 15 BJP members had been elected to the TP.  During the election of the TP president for the second term, a Congress member, Purushottam Gatty, had supported the BJP, ensuring that the BJP candidate, Babu M, was elected to the post, even though the Congress-BJP equation stood at 17-16 after his crossing over.

Itching to seek revenge against this insult, the Congress Party members had moved the no-confidence motion against the president. However, at the last minute, one of the Congress members, Padmavati from Rayi, went to Mumbai, for reasons best known to her. Some said that she too had been lured through Operation Kamala.

With her absence, the comparative strength of the BJP and the Congress Party stood at 16 each, which would have been insufficient to oust the president. Realizing this, the Congress Party members played it safe by not attending the session, and thereby saving themselves from the ignominy of their resolution getting defeated.