Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi (SP)

Udupi, Aug 9: After it came to be known that the post of the Kundapur municipal president remained earmarked to general category as in the last term, there were hectic activities in the BJP camp. The BJP, which has 15-member strength in the 23-member municipal council, witnessed several aspirants for the post. A meeting had been convened in the party office here on Sunday August 8 under the leadership of the party’s district unit president, Udayakumar Shetty and MLA, Halady Srinivas Shetty, for collecting the opinions of the councillors and party leaders.

The venue of the private meeting was shifted to Julio International Hotel on the city outskirts, after a number of vehicles crowded the street outside the office located in a busy road. The meeting was attended by 15 councillors, five nominated members, BJP block committee president, B Kishore Kumar, urban development authority chairman, Mani Gopal, party leaders, Kiran Kumar Kodgi, Tingale Vikramarjun Hegde, Shyamala Kunder, Sharatchandra Shetty, Sudhir K S and K N Shivananand.

It is learnt that the current municipal president, K Mohandas Shenoy, councillors, Rajesh Kaveri, and Kediyoor Satish Shetty, were the aspirants for the post. After hectic consultations, the party leadership decided to vest the post with Mohandas Shenoy, current municipal president, for one more term. In the election process to be held today, Shenoy will file his nomination as the authorized candidate of the party.

The BJP has been forced to concede the post of the vice president to Kalavati, a CPM councillor, as it does not have suitable candidate to contest for the post that has been set aside for a candidate from the scheduled caste. The CPM initially showed reluctance to have any truck with the BJP, but finally decided to accept the post offered to its councillor, as the vice-president is not under compulsion to toe the line of thinking of the ruling party.