By Mounesh Vishwakarma
Daijiworld Media Network—Bantwal (RD/CN)
Bantwal, Jun 11: “The felicitation by voters indeed has more significance for newly-elected members of the Congress-supported gram panchayat than by the party. The elected members of the gram panchayat should discharge their responsibilities with genuine concern for the welfare of voters in their respective constituencies, throughout their five-year term”, said Ramanath Rai, MLA and president, Dakshina Kannada District Congress Committee (DCC).
Rai was speaking during the felicitation programme for the newly-elected Congress-backed gram panchayat members, which was held at Rangoli Auditorium, B C Road, on Thursday June 10. The programme was jointly organized by Block Congress Committee of Bantwal, Panemangalore, and Vittal.
He called upon the newly-elected gram panchayat members to work towards earning the trust of the people by actively involving in their welfare and promoting communal harmony in the area.
Rai alleged that BJP and JD(S) have been working on weakening the Beloor announcement that gives more power to the gram panchayat members.
Former MP Vinay Kumar Sorake was the chief guest who congratulated the gram panchayat members and said that the results of the election had shown the people’s verdict against misrule by the BJP-led state administration.
He expressed the need for booth-level strengthening of the party and urged the party workers to prepare the ground for future taluk panchayat and zilla panchayat elections.
KPCC spokesperson Harikrishna Bantwal appealed with the gram panchayat members to work with dignity and take precautions so as not to fall victim to Operation Lotus.
KPCC member Ashwini Kumar Rai, zilla panchayat member Mamatha Gatti, A C Bhandary, block Congress presidents Padmashekar Jain, M S Mohammed and Chandrahas Karkera, party leaders Sudarshan Jain, K Padmanabha Naringana, K H Abubakker, S Abbas, Jinaraj Ariga, Sanjeev Poojary, B K Iddinabba, Sadashiv Bangera, Abbas Ali, taluk panchayat member Usman Karopady, Ida Suresh, Chandrahas Shetty Bolantoor, Ummer Fajeer, Flossy D’Souza, Kanchalakshi, Naseema Hassan, Mohammed Saleh, and Kushala M Peraje were present on the occasion.
The training programme for the newly-elected gram panchayat members was held from Thursday morning to afternoon. Thukaram Yekkar, Manju Vittal, and Sheena Shetty of Jana Shikshana, Mangalore, were the resource persons who offered information on Right to Information Act, Panchayat Raj, and National Employment Guarantee Programme.
Rai and former Sorake felicitated all Congress backed newly-elected gram panchayat members by draping the shawls.
Vittal block Congress president M S Mohammed welcomed the gathering. Panemangalore block Congress president Chandrahas Karkera proposed the vote of thanks. Gram panchayat member Razak Kukkaje compered the programme.