In a surprise political development, the Congress lost power in the Yadgir Zilla Panchayat as its rebel Basanagowda Patil Yadiyapur, panchayat member from Arkera (J) Constituency in Shorapur taluk, became the new zilla panchayat president with the support of BJP members in an election here on Friday.
Regional Commissioner of Kalaburagi Revenue Division N.V. Prasad announced the result after the election process was completed.
The zilla panchayat, with a total of 24 seats, has 22 members after the demise of two. Of the 22, 11 belong to the Congress, 10 from the BJP and one member from Janata Dal(S).
Soon after the election process commenced, Mr. Yadiyapur filed his nomination papers as a rebel candidate, while Sharanamma Nagappa, panchayat member from Sagar constituency, filed her nomination papers as a Congress nominee.
Mr. Yadiyapur got the support of 10 BJP members and another Congress rebel member Kishan Rathod, a member from Gogi panchayat constituency, totalling 12 votes, while Ms. Sharanamma Nagappa got nine votes from the Congress and one from the Janata Dal(S). Mr. Yadiyapur was declared elected after he succeeded in getting more votes (12) than Ms. Sharanamma Nagappa who secured 10 votes.
The Congress was in power with the support of the only Janata Dal(S) member since 2016. But, after the resignation of Rajshekhargowda Patil Vajjal from the post of panchayat president, Mr. Yadiyapur, who was an aspirant for the post, was denied the opportunity by Congress leaders. However, BJP leaders, including Venkatareddy Mudnal and Narasimha Naik, assured Mr. Yadiyapur of support and finally succeeded in snatching power from the Congress in the panchayat.
The term of Mr. Yadiyapur will last till May 2021 when elections to the zilla panchayat will possibly be held.
