TDP bags Rangareddy dt. ZP chief post

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, JULY 28. The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) candidate won the Rangareddy Zilla Parishad chairmanship election today, helped by the presence of the lone Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency member belonging to the Telangana Rastra Samithi (TRS) while elections at Karimnagar and Chittoor were postponed to August 2 due to lack of quorum.

At Chittoor, the 32 members belonging to the TDP attended the meeting while 33 members of the Congress, who could have had their nominee elected Chairman, could not do so because two of their members did not turn up for the election despite the APCC president, Mr. M. Sathyanarayana Rao, and the leader of the Opposition, Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, announcing a compromise. The two were obviously sulking at the choice of the vice- president made by these two leaders.

At Karimnagar, the 22 TRS members attended the meeting along with one CPI member, but the quorum for this meeting was 28. Since the Congress, TDP and BJP members stayed away from the meeting, election was postponed to August 2 due to lack of quorum.

In the RR district election, 14 ZPTC members belonging to the TDP, two belonging to the BJP and a TRS member attended the meeting to provide quorum in a House of 32. The Congress members demanded that one ZPTC member belonging to the Congress, Mr. K. Bhaskar, allegedly abducted, should be produced, and tore up the agenda papers. They were later removed from the hall by policemen. Since there was only one nomination for the post of Chairman, the District Collector declared that Mr. Kasani Gnaneswar of the TDP was elected chairman and Mr. Nanda Kumar Yadav of the BJP vice-chairman. With today's election, the TDP bagged 12 ZP chairmen posts while the Congress had seven and TRS one.

The election was held amid tight security with the police sealing off the approach road to the ZP office and screening every visitor. At the oath-taking meeting in the morning, nine Congress(I) ZPTC members led by Mr. Lakshmipathi Goud raised slogans against what they called `horse-trading' by the ruling party. They refused to take oath and obstructed the proceedings demanding postponement of the meeting.

Mr. Nawab Imtaz and Mohd. Azimuddin of the TDP were elected coopted members.

Talking to presspersons, Mrs. P. Sabitha Indra Reddy, Congress(I) MLA, came down heavily on the TDP for ``undermining the verdict of the people with money and muscle power.'' She said the whereabouts of the Congress ZPTC member, Mr. K. Bhasker, kidnapped by the TDP, were not known. The present TDP leadership came to power through backstabbing and captured the ZP through the backdoor, she alleged.

Meanwhile, the State Election Commission issued a notification setting out the schedule for August 2 elections in Karimnagar and Chittoor ZPs. The Collectors will issue notification on or before July 29 while nominations for coopted members will be received before 10.00 a.m. on August 2. Scrutiny will take place between 10.00 a.m. and 12 noon that day. Special meeting for administration of oath and conduct of election of coopted members will take place at 1.00 pm. Special meeting for election of Chairman and Vice-Chairman will be held at 3.00 p.m.

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Section  : Southern States
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