Daijiworld Media Network – Bantwal (SP)

Bantwal, Aug 19: For the second time in succession, the BJP, in spite of being in minority in the local municipal council, succeeded in bagging both the posts of the president and the vice president. The election was held on the evening of Wednesday August 18.

The BJP, which played its cards well, romped home with the support of two Congress councillors. Dinesh Bhandary of the BJP defeated Mohammed Nandarabettu of the Congress and Mohammed Iqbal of the Muslim League by getting 13 votes as against 10 mustered by the Congress candidate.  He had been the president here for one term in the past. Iqbal got two votes.

The post of the vice president went to the BJP naturally, as it alone had a member belonging to scheduled tribe, to which the post was reserved. Janaki Gopal was elected to this post unanimously.

Congress has 11 councillors in the 23-member council, while BJP has ten, and Muslim League, two. With the addition of MP, Nalin Kumar Kateel’s vote, BJP’s strength went up to 11, while MLA, Ramanath Rai, increased the tally of the Congress to 12.  During the voting, Vasanti Gangadhar, who had voted for the BJP candidate the last time, against favoured the same party. Unexpectedly, another Congress councillor, Swarnalata S Malli also voted for the BJP candidate, foiling the chances of the Congress candidate.