BJP stakes claim in Gadag-Betgeri City Municipal Council

Gadag: After a gap of 14 years, the BJP managed to wrest power in the Gadag-Betgeri City Municipal Council (GBCMC) on Monday, with the saffron party’s Usha Mahesh Dasar being elected as the urban local body’s president, with Sunanda Prakash Bakale elected as the vice-president.
Although the BJP had managed to obtain a simple majority in the recently-held election to the GBCMC, winning 18 of the 35 seats in the local body, staking claim to power proved a tough task for the saffron party.The Congress, which won 15 seats, managed to enlist the support of two rebel councillors, who had contested independently to help consolidate its position. Although the saffron party even tried to have three MLCs and a Rajya Sabha MP from other districts to turn the battle for the posts of president and vice-president into a mere formality, the Election Commission foiled its plan, by agreeing to consider the applications of Congress MLCs and Rajya Sabha MP after the election concluded. Laxman Chandavari and Shakuntala Akki of the Congress filed nomination respectively for the post of president and vice-president of the GBCMC.
Supporters of both the parties started trooping into the grounds of the GBCMC right from the morning on Monday, and the atmosphere on the premises resembled on of a battlefield on the eve of war. When former minister and Congress MLA HK Patil arrived at GBCMC, BJP supporters raised slogans in favour of their leaders such as CC Patil. Workers of the Congress reciprocated by chanting slogans praising their leaders to greet BJP legislators and ministers. Before the election got under way, BJP functionary Anil Menasinakai, in an interaction with the media, accused the Congress of resorting to unethical means to grab power in the council.
Usha Mahesh Dasar and Sunanda Prakash Dasale both secured 19 votes, with the BJP’s Haveri MP Shivakumar Udasi casting the decisive vote – the Congress candidates bagged 18 votes, including the votes cast by the two Independents, and MLA HK Patil.
The results were announced by assistant commissioner Rayappa Hunasagi. HK Patil, however, alleged that the election had not been conducted in a transparent manner, adding that the Congress would take the legal route to challenge the results.