The Zilla Panchayat (ZP) meeting held here on Tuesday ended with the passing of a resolution to give the power of formation of the five standing committees to ZP president Jyoti Kumar.
It may be mentioned here that in the 31-member body, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has 15 members, Congress has 8, Janata Dal (Secular) 7 and there is one independent member. The Congress-JD(S) coalition has come to power in the Zilla Panchayat with the support of the independent member.
Member Kalagodu Rathnakar of Congress, speaking at the meeting, said that elections for the standing committees had not been held so far Owing to this and going by tradition, a unanimous resolution could be passed leaving the formation of the committees to the discretion of the ZP president, he said.
BJP member K.E. Kanthesh demanded the proper representation of the other BJP members in the committees. MLC M.B. Bhanuprakash said that if fair representation was not provided for the opposition members in the committees, the BJP would prefer that an election was held.
During the meeting, Minister of State for Primary and Secondary Education Kimmane Rathnakar said that the possibility of the formation of standing committees without an election should be explored. He suggested that the members of all three political parties hold a discussion in this regard. The meeting was adjourned for 15 minutes at this point.
When the meeting resumed, the BJP members did not show up. In their absence, a resolution was passed giving the president the power to form the standing committees on her discretion.
M.J. Appaji, Bhadravati MLA, Madhu Bangarappa, Sorab MLA, K.B. Prasanna Kumar, Shivamogga MLA, Sharada Poorya Naik, Shivamogga Rural MLA and the CEO of Zilla Panchayat Rakesh Kumar were present.
BJP members protest
Meanwhile, the BJP expressed its displeasure against the way in which the meeting was conducted. The president of the party district unit, S. Dattatri, said that the BJP members were not taken into confidence while passing the resolution on formation of standing committees. The BJP members later submitted a memorandum to the CEO of Zilla Panchayat requesting him to conduct an election for the formation of standing committees.
The Congress-JD(S) coalition has come to power in the ZP with the support of an independent member
