Mangaluru (The Hindu): Consensus between the leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress led to the unopposed election of members to five standing committees of the Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat here on Thursday.

Though enjoying a majority in the 36-member zilla panchayat with 21 members, the BJP and the Congress ended up with 26 electors each for electing members to the General, Finance, Education and Health, Social Justice and Agriculture standing committees. While the ruling BJP members are likely to head three committees, the Congress members are likely to head the two remaining committees.

Section 159 of the Karnataka Panchayat Raj Act 1993 that deals with the constitution of the zilla panchayat states that a zilla panchayat constitutes of elected members; MPs and MLAs representing part or whole of the district whose constituencies lie within the district; Rajya Sabha MP and MLCs who are registered as electors within the district; and presidents of taluk panchayats in the district.

Accordingly, the BJP has 21 zilla panchayat members, one each Lok Sabha member, MLA and MLC; and two presidents of taluk panchayats. The Congress has 15 zilla panchayat members, seven MLAs, one MLC and three presidents of taluk panchayats.

A clarification by the Department of Rural Department and Panchayat Raj led to granting recognition to elected representatives who are registered voters in the revenue district as electors and thus, the two parties ended up with equal numbers.

MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, Moodbidri MLA K. Abhayachandra Jain, MLAs S. Angara and Vasant Bangera, MLCs Ganesh Karnik and Ivan D’Souza had a meeting with the party’s zilla panchayat members to arrive at a consensus for the withdrawal of additional nominations and ensure unanimous elections to the five committees.

As many as seven zilla panchayat members each were elected to the Standing Committees on Social Justice, Education and Agriculture respectively, while six members each were elected to the General and Finance Standing Committees.