Mangaluru (The Hindu): Party hopes that the government will not reserve TP president’s post for SCs
Though it bagged four of six panchayat raj bodies in Dakshina Kannada in the elections conducted last month, the BJP will not be able to lead the Belthangady Taluk Panchayat if the post of president is reserved for Scheduled Castes.
It is because the BJP has no candidate eligible to contest for the post of president.
In the 26-member Belthangady Taluk Panchayat, the BJP had won 14 seats and the Congress had won 12 seats.
According to K. Prathap Simha Nayak, president, Dakshina Kannada unit of the BJP, the party has candidates from all reservation categories eligible to contest for the post of presidents in Sullia and Puttur taluk panchayats and in the zilla panchayat.
Hence leading the three panchayat bodies would not be a problem.
But the BJP leaders are hopeful that the government might not reserve the post of president of Belthangady Taluk Panchayat to Scheduled Castes this time.
It was because, according to them, the post of president of that panchayat for the first 20 months in the immediate last five-year tenure of the panchayat had been reserved for a Scheduled Castes candidate.
But since the elections to panchayat raj bodies have been conducted after the de-limitation of the constituencies the government might take a stand that it could fix the reservation roster afresh without considering what existed during the last five year tenure of the bodies.
Hence there could also be a possibility of fixing the reservation to Scheduled Caste candidate.
In the 36-member zilla panchayat, the BJP has bagged 21 seats and the Congress 15 seats.
Of the BJP members Asha Thimmappa Gowda and Tungappa Bangera have been elected to the panchayat for the third time. They are the senior most members in the House now. In addition, the BJP has six members who have been elected for the second time and 13 members who have been elected for the first time. Now the party is awaiting the announcement of reservation for the post of president to select its suitable candidate.
