Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (SP)

Mangalore, Aug 25:  The election to the posts of the president and vice-president of Dakshina Kannada zilla panchayat will be conducted on Tuesday August 25. The Mysore divisional commissioner will supervise the election.

In the 35-member zilla panchayat, 15 members belong to the BJP, while 15 others are from the Congress Party. The other five belong to the JDS. Out of the JDS members, two have been supporting the BJP and two have tilted towards the Congress. In the last election, the BJP emerged victorious with the help of Santosh Kumar Bhandary, a Congress member, who supported the candidate put up by the BJP. The other JDS member is not interested in supporting the BJP.

The Congress has been making behind-the-scenes efforts since some time, to ensure that the posts do not slip out of its grip this time around. If the BJP wants to win, it may have to indulge in ‘Operation Kamala' this time and snatch a couple of Congress members towards itself. It is learnt, the Congress Party already has contacted the top leadership of the JDS to ensure that it gets the support of the JDS members. Y S V Dutta, spokesman of the JDS and former Congress MP K C Kondaiah will act as observers for the election, sources said.

The in-charge president Venkat Dambekody may be put up by the BJP for the presidentship, while the name of Jagnnath Salian is being considered by the BJP for the post of the vice-president. If calculations go awry, the BJP may also be forced to nominate Santosh Kumar Bhandary, dissident Congress member, who had supported it last time, as its candidate for the post of the president, as Bhandary is reportedly interested to become the next president of the zilla panchayat.