ZP chief's move stalls standing committee polls

Mangalore, March 18: Disorder prevailed in the selection process held for the posts of presidents and members of the Zilla Panchayat Standing Committees in the Zilla Panchayat on Thursday. In a special meeting called for the selection process of the five standing committees, 7 posts in the Agriculture and Industrial Standing Committee were left vacant due to the difference of opinion.

The selection process was held for the vacant posts of General Standing Committee, Finance, Auditing and Projects Committee, Social Justice Committee, Education and Health Committee and Agriculture and Industries Committee. Though the election for the first four committees went on without any hindrance, the nomination process for the posts of Agriculture and Industries Standing Committee was blocked by the Congress members.

The selection process was held for appointing the members for five standing committees, each committee consisting of six members and a president. The 35 members Zilla Panchayat consists of 24 BJP members and 11 Congress members. If the posts were distributed equally, then each member would have got a chance to hold the post in at least one of the standing committees. The Congress members objected the nomination list as one Congress ZP member among 11 was not nominated for any of the Standing Committee posts, while the BJP member Asha Thimmappa Gowda was nominated for two posts.

Irked over the decision of the ZP President to exclude Congress member Ambika Shetty from the Standing Committee post, the Congress members urged the President to set right the problem by nominating Ambika Shetty to one of the posts. “We either want all 11 Congress members to be in the Standing Committee or the rest 10 members would prefer to resign from our Standing Committee posts,” said Congress member M S Mohammad.

Despite holding private discussion with the members, ZP President Shailaja Bhat was not able to solve the problem and so she announced to hold back the selection process for the posts of Agriculture and Industrial Committee.

“The posts will remain vacant till the next meeting,” she announced.

Standing Committee office-bearers

General Standing Committee: Dhanalakshmi Janardhana (President), Mamatha Gatti, Fakira, Nalini Shetty, Santhosh Kumar Rai, Sunitha Shetty, Devaraj K S.

Finance, Auditing and Programme Committee: Shailaja Bhat (President), Asha Thimmappa Gowda, Devaki Sanjeeva Gowda, Saraswathi Kamath, Chennappa Kotian, Prakash, Ritesh Shetty.

Social Justice Committee: Janardhan Gowda (Probable President), K Meenakshi, C K Chandrakala, Melwin D'Souza, Balakrishna Suvarna, K Koragappa, N S Kareem.

Education and Health Committee: Eshwar Kateel (Probable President), Sathish Kumpala, Savitri H S, Jayashri, M S Mohammad, Yashavanti Alva, Girija.