Women who were recently elected to the Yadgir Zilla Panchayat remained silent spectators as their husbands created a scene at the ZP general body meeting on Wednesday, demanding that they be allowed to “assist” their wives who would be unable to understand the official parlance.
Turning down their demand, ZP chief executive officer Vikas Suralkar denied them entry into the meeting hall. He stated that no one except the members, officials and journalists are allowed inside the meeting hall. However, he left the decision on the matter to ZP president Basareddy Anpur, who allowed the men to sit inside the hall after holding talks with them.
However, things got ugly as one of the men — Mallikarjun Pujari, the husband of Bheemabai, a member from Hayyal (B) constituency — allegedly called the journalists in the room names. This was after one of the journalists asked why the men were allowed to sit inside when it is against the rules.
Consequently, journalists boycotted the meeting and staged a protest, till Deputy Commissioner Manoj Jain rushed to the spot and convinced them to drop the matter. Mr. Jain later asked Mr. Suralkar to make proper arrangements for the husbands to attend the zilla panchayat meetings without being disruptive.
