Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi (SP)

Udupi, Oct 13: Gladys D’Almeida, president of the zillal panchayat (ZP) here, has escaped from being disqualified from her membership, as BJP, of which she is a member, did not show interest to pursue the complaint it had filed against her.

When the question of proposing a candidate for the presidentship of the ZP came up last year, the BJP had two eligible members, Gladys D’Almeida and Veena Vasu Shetty. After discussions, BJP had chosen to field Veena Vasu Shetty for the post, and a whip had been issued to the BJP members to vote for her.

Gladys, who was earlier elected on a Congress ticket, and had fought on a BJP ticket in the last election because of misunderstandings with party leaders, violated the whip, and at the last minute, entered the election fray and got elected as ZP president with the support of Congress party. The BJP had moved the state election commission, seeking disqualification of her membership. As the party did not pursue the case with interest, and its advocates did not appear for a few hearings, recently, this case was dismissed by the state election commission.

B N Shankar Poojary, a Congress zilla panchayat member, was found to be hobnobbing with the BJP and hence, the Congress party had appealed to the state election commission in 2008, to cancel his membership. Although the verdict is still awaited, B N Poojary recently resigned from the ZP membership in view of the fact that the ZP elections are round the corner. The ZP president, who readily accepted his resignation, has forwarded the same to the ZP chief executive officer and the election commission, thus affectively ending questions about Poojary’s future.