Zilla Parishad election results roundup

By Our Staff Reporters

TDP scrapes through in Krishna dt.

VIJAYAWADA, JULY 23. Ms Nallagatla Sudharani, TDP candidate and wife of Tiruvuru MLA, Mr Swami Das was elected the chairperson of the Krishna Zilla Parishad defeating the Congress candidate, Ms Lam Thantiakumari, daughter of former deputy chief minister, Mr Koneru Ranga Rao, with a margin of five votes.

In the absence of independents and representatives of other parties the election was a straight fight between the two candidates with Ms Sudharani polling 27 votes against the 22 polled by Ms Thantiakumari. The Chief Executive Officer conducted the election by hand-count in Machilipatnam, the district headquarters.

The TDP which was in a majority elected Mr Gorrepati Venkatakrishna, Ghantasala ZPTC chief, vice-chairman and two members from the minority community coopted members. Mr Sheik Badir-ud-jama of Kalidindi and Ms Sheik Rahmat-unissa of Bantumilli were elected coopted members.

Ms Sudharani resigned her job as an accountant in the Roads and Buildings department to contest as TDP candidate for the ZP chairperson post which has been held by political heavy-weights like Challapalli Raja, Mirjapur Raja, Maganti Ankineedu, Mr Pinnamaneni Koteswara Rao, Mr Sunkara Satyanarayana and Mr Kandiyala Raghava Rao. Ms Sudharani is the first woman and dalit to hold the post, which has reserved for SC(woman).

TDP man elected Guntur ZP chairman

GUNTUR: Mr. Pathuri Nagabhushanam has been elected chairman of Guntur Zilla Parishad.

Mr. Nagabhushanam's name was proposed by the Chilakaluripet ZPTC member, Mr. Sitarama Rao (TDP), and the Nekarikallu ZPTC member (TDP), Mr. S. Venkateswarlu, seconded it. The name of the Congress contestant, Dr. Rayapati Srinivas, was proposed by the Mangalagiri ZPTC member, Mr. Bhavani Sankar, and was seconded by the Gurazala ZPTC member, Mr. B. Ishtakami Reddy.

The District Collector, Mr. Hiralal Samariya, who is the presiding officer for the conduct of the election, asked the members supporting the candidature of Mr. Nagabhushanam to raise their hands. As many as 33 out of 35 ZPTC members belonging to the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) raised their hands in support of Mr. Nagabhushanam. The Pedakurapadu ZPTC member, Mrs. Venigalla Vijayalakshmi, and the Nizampatnam ZPTC member, Mr. Jagarlamudi Narendranath, abstained from voting.

Later, the Collector asked the members those who were supporting the candidature of Dr. Srinivas to raise their hands. Dr. Srinivas secured 21 votes. As the independent candidate, who was elected from Durgi ZPTC, did not understand what the Collector was saying (the Collector conducted the proceedings in English), he ``inadvertently'' abstained from voting.

The Collector declared Mr. Nagabhushanam elected chairman.

The name of the TDP's ZPTC member from Pittalavanipalem, Mr. Jaibunnisa Begum, was proposed by the ZPTC member from Ponnur, Mrs. Ikkurthi Padmavathi and was seconded by the Nagaram ZPTC member, Mr. Lokam Moshe. The Congress ZPTC member from Mangalagiri, Mr. Srinivasa Rao, proposed the name of the Macherla ZPTC member, Mr. G. Anthaiah, as vice-chairman candidate on behalf of their party.

When the Collector put this to vote, the TDP candidate, Mrs. Jaibunnisa Begum, secured 35 votes and the Congress candidate got 22 votes. Mr. Samariya declared Mrs. Begum elected vice- chairperson. Later, Mr. Nagabhushanam was called on to the dais and the Collector administered the oath of office to Mr. Nagabhushanam and concluded the meeting. Interestingly, the Congress members walked out before Mr. Nagabhushanam affirmed the oath.

High drama marks Nizamabad ZP vice-chief election

NIZAMABAD: The former Minister and Bheemgal ZPTC member, Mr. Shanigaram Santosh Reddy, of the Telangana Rastra Samiti (TRS), on Monday, was unanimously elected chairman of the Nizamabad Zilla Parishad while another TRS leader and Gandhari ZPTC member, Mr. Pothangal Kishan Rao, was made the vice-chairman.

The Telugu Desam Party and the Congress ZPTC members, in all numbering about 17 abstained paving the way for one-sided election of the new leader. The TRS had 19 ZPTC members in the 36-member house and was in a position to elect the chief on its strength. In all, 35 members took oath this afternoon barring the Bodhan ZPTC member of the TDP, Mr. Kotha Ramakant, who did not turn up. Mr. Taher Bin Hamdaan and Mr. Asad, of the TRS, were unanimously elected co-option members of the ZP.

Tension prevailed outside the ZP meeting hall as a large number of TRS workers tried to gherao the Minister for Panchayat Raj who was coming inside the R and B guest house. Police swung into action and chased away TRS activists.

At the stroke of 3 pm, the District Collector and District Election Officer, Mr. G. Ashok Kumar, called the house to order and invited names for the election of the ZP chief. Mr. Ganta Sadanandam, Jakranpalli ZPTC member, proposed the name of Mr. Santosh Reddy, which was seconded by the Banswada ZPTC member, Mr. Kothakonda Bhaskar. In precisely seven minutes, the process of election of Mr. Santosh Reddy was completed as no other nominee entered the fray.

While the election of the new ZP chief was a smooth affair, TRS leaders could not arrive at a consensus to name the vice-chairman nominee. High drama preceded the election of the vice-chief, as the TRS ZPTC members trooped out of the ZP meeting hall and frantically tried to patch up the three aspirants.

The Jakranpalli ZPTC member, Mr. Ganta Sadanandam, who was also an aspirant, walked out in a huff, as the name of the VC candidate was not finalised. He reportedly went out of the ZP building and told the TRS cadre that the election to the VC post had been postponed. Some TRS activists allegedly assaulted him forcing the police to come to his rescue. He was sent back into the meeting hall.

The ZPTC members sought the permission of the District Collector to go outside and finalise the name of the VC nominee.

Even after 20 minutes, the TRS leaders could not arrive at a compromise forcing the new ZP chief elect, Mr. Santosh Reddy, to go outside the meeting hall hold telephonic discussions with the TRS president, Mr. K. Chandrasekhar Rao. After speaking to the TRS chief, Mr. Santosh Reddy came back to the hall and spoke to the Collector. Immediately, one ZPTC member got up and proposed the name of Mr. Kishan Rao, and as no other candidate filed his nomination, he was declared elected.

High command has its way in Kurnool

KURNOOL: After the week-long suspense-filled drama, Mr. Bathina Venkatramudu of the Telugu Desam Party was sworn in the Kurnool Zilla Parishad Chairman here on Monday. Either the party leadership or the press had little inclination till late last night that Mr. Venkatramudu would emerge sole choice of the high command. The efforts of the KE Brothers to install Mr. P. Venkatappa Naidu of Kappatralla did not bear fruit because of the factionist image he enjoyed.

The silence of MLAs over second option had helped Mr. Venkatramudu to be tipped for the top slot. The MLAs did not want any one from their area as ZP chairman because of the threat of his growing as a parallel power centre. Initially, all MLAs agreed on the elevation of Mr. Venkatappa Naidu. However, they differed when the candidature of Mr. Naidu was rejected and second option was sought. At the end, the group of Mr. K.E. Krishna Murthy, left with the feeling that the group of Mr. S.V. Subba Reddy had ditched them.

Forty-five year-old Mr. Venkatramudu, who belongs to backward caste Kuruba (shepherd) community, was elected from Tuggali Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency in Pathikonda assembly segment.

As the Congress decided to fight the election, Mr. B.Y. Ramaiah of the Congress entered the fray. In a House of 52, Mr. Venkatramudu received the support of 37 members including an Independent while the Congress candidate was supported by 15 members. Mr. K. Sivanagireddy of Nandyal was elected the vice- chairman. Earlier, the newly constituted body nominated Mr. B. Nazeer and Mr. S.A. Rafi, as coopted members.

TDP shocks Cong.-TRS in Warangal dt.

WARANGAL: In a dramatic development, the TDP won the Zilla Parishad chairmanship here with the support of three defected Congress ZPTC members.

The TDP, which had 21 ZPTC members in a body of 50, not only took the support of its ally, BJP, which had two members but roped in three Congress members who announced they were forced to take the decision out of ``anguish,'' to win the chairmanship 23-0. The Congress members did not participate in voting although they attended the meeting. A quorum of 25 ZPTC members was required for the meeting but the TDP, BJP and the three Congress members totalled 26. Barring the three Congress members, the rest of the Congress outfit and the members of Telangana Rastra Samithi (TRS) did not attend the meeting. The original tally in the Zilla Parishad was TDP 21, BJP 2, Congress 15 and TRS 12.

The TDP's member from Sangem, Mr. E. Basava Reddy, who was elected ZPTC member under controversial circumstances, was the unanimous choice of the TDP, BJP and the three defected Congress members.

On a day when the Congress and TRS were expected to romp home with a victory in the chairmanship election as the two parties together had an understanding and also won 27 out of 50 ZPTCs, the result upset all calculations.

There was some struggle in the Congress camp with regard to the candidate it should field given the accord with the TRS and also being a major partner but it was thought the issue would be sorted out between the two main contenders, Mr. N. Praveen Kumar, the son of late Minister N. Yethiraja Rao, and Mr. Sambari Samma Rao.

The issue was discussed at the meeting of the District Congress Committee (DCC) in the morning wherein a decision to issue the B- form to Mr. Praveen Kumar was taken. But, Mr. Samma Rao walked out of the meeting with what he claimed five other ZPTC members. Mr. Rao and the others were meanwhile contacted

by the TDP which promised him vice-chairmanship should he sever links with the Congress. However, Mr. Rao, Mr. V. Venkateswarlu of Hasanparthy mandal and Mrs. Boda Vijaya of Chennaraopet only attended the meeting for election of ZP chairman and abstained from voting. Two other Congress ZPTC members, Mr. Srinivas Reddy of Tadvai and Mr. Boora Agaiah of Narsampet, were said to have rejoined the Congress.

Mr. Rao was rewarded with the vice-chairmanship by the TDP as promised.

The election of the ZP chairman was not without some anxious moments when Mr. Praveen Kumar entered the hall as all the TDP, BJP and three Congress members were seated in the interregnum between the election of coopted members and the chairman and raised slogans against the TDP and the Chief Minister, Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu, for `killing' democracy.

Then came five Congress MLAs -- Messrs D.S. Redya Naik, Ponnala Laxmaiah, Konda Surekha, N. Rajalingam and B. Saraiah -- to plead with Mr. Samma Rao to support the Congress but in vain.

Karimnagar election put off to July 28

KARIMNAGAR: The Karimnagar Zilla Parishad chairman elections which were scheduled to be held on Monday were postponed to July 28 due to the lack of quorum amid high drama.

Tension prevailed at the Zilla Parishad office with the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and Telugu Desam Party leaders resorting to a wordy duel on the alleged kidnapping of two TDP ZPTC elect members from Manthani Mutharam and Malhar Rao mandals by the TRS leaders. At one stage, there was a mild clash between the leaders of both TRS and TDP, however, the police intervened and averted the fight.

With both the TDP and BJP parties deciding to abstain from the ZP chairman elections, all eyes were focussed on the TRS and Congress ZPTC candidates. Interestingly, the Congress and TDP members abstained from attending the meeting. The TRS ZPTC members' arrival started in a low-key manner. Firstly, about five members arrived in the Sircilla legislator, Mr R Papa Rao's vehicle, later the TRS ZP chairman candidate, Mr M Rajeshwara Rao, arrived in a separate car. To everyone's surprise, all the remainining TRS ZPTC members arrived in a private bus to the Zilla Parishad office.

Following the news of alleged abduction of TDP ZPTC members by the TRS leaders, the TDP rank and file arrived in large numbers to the office to identify their candidate and take them away. The TDP State general secretary and Kamalapur legislator, Mr M Damodar Reddy, the Karimnagar legislator, Mr K Devender Rao and other party leaders were present and closely monitored the movements of the ZPTC members' arrivals. As soon as TRS members arrived in any vehicle, the TDP leaders surrounded it and searched for their party candidates.

Meanwhile, the TRS leader and former legislator of the district, Mr V Jagapathi Rao, arrived at the scene with hordes of his supporters and waited outside the parishad premises raising slogans of `Jai Telangana' and `TRS Zindabad'. When the TDP Manthani Mutharam ZPTC elect, Ms M Bharathi and Malhar Rao ZPTC- elect, Mr S Laxmaiah arrived in a vehicle, over 50 TDP leaders pounced on them while the TRS leaders who were also present in large numbers prevented the TDP leaders from doing so. Immediately, the police who were waiting in vehicles rushed to the spot and dispersed the mob by resorting to a mild cane charge and took away the TDP candidates to the police station.

The TRS leaders including Sircilla legislator, Mr R Papa Rao, protested over the alleged `undemocratic' attitude of the police for arresting the ZPTC member who had come to participate in the voting. They also raised slogans against the TDP and the police's `highhanded behaviour. They flayed the police for taking into custody the ZPTC members who had come to participate in the voting.

Meanwhile, the five BJP ZPTC members made a surprise by arriving at the Zilla parishad alongwith their party legislators, Mr D Venkata Ramana Reddy and Mr G Ramakrishna Reddy and the five ZPTC members took oath and signed in the register. The election was postponed due to non-availability of quorum of 28 ZPTCs.

The Collector, Ms Sumita Dawra, told newsmen that they had received instructions from the State Election Commission to postpone the elections to July 28 following non-availability of quorum.

Congress-CPI(M) combine bags Khammam ZP

KHAMMAM: The Congress party's candidate, Mr. Chanda Lingaiah, has been elected as the Zilla Parishad chairperson of Khammam which is reserved for Scheduled Tribe. The CPI(M) which backed the Congress had its nominee, Mr. Sidhineni Kotaiah elected as the vice-chairman besides bagging two of the coopted member slots.

Though the numbers game was clearly in favour of the Congress- CPI(M) combine, the Telugu Desam Party opted for a contest instead of a meek surrender. The TDP fielded Mr. Punem Veerabhadram, ZPTC member from Tekulapalli, for the post of chairperson and Mr. Gade Satyanarayana, ZPTC member of Sathupalli for the vice-chairman's post.

In the absence of any withdrawals, the District Collector, Mr. A. Giridhar, conducted the election by show of hands in the presence of the election observers, Mr. Lal Rosem and Mr. Arvind Kumar, and the Zilla Parishad Chief executive Officer, Dr. M. Sudhakar Rao. Mr. Chanda Lingaiah polled 27 votes (Cong 19 + CPI(M) 8) out of 46, against 15 by the Telugu Desam nominee. The CPI(M) candidate in the fray for the vice-chairman's post also polled the same number of votes.

Three ZPTC members of the CPI(ML New Democracy) stayed away from the election as per the decision of the party. The CPI which had one ZPTC member also decided to abstain from voting. The party leadership, which blamed the CPI(M) for its debacle in the local body polls had made an announcement to this effect few hours before the election process started. Accordingly, the party member from Konijerla ZPTC, Mr. Yerrababu, abstained from the meeting hall when the voting was conducted for the chairman's post.

The member who subsequently marked his presence in the meeting did not participate in the voting for the vice-chairman's post. The District Collector, Mr. Giridhar, announced the election of Mr. Lingaiah and Mr Sidhineni Kotaiah and congratulated them as the ZPTC members and MLAs of the Congress and CPI(M) parties cheered the occasion with laud applause.

Later, talking to reporters, Mr. Lingaiah said that he would

focus his attention mainly on rural development and strive to take all members of the Zilla Parishad irrespective of their political affiliations into confidence while deciding on sanction of developmental works.

He said he would not face any difficulty in getting the due share of funds for the district even though the Telugu Desam party was in power in the State. He expressed the hope that the district would not be discriminated against by the State Government in any way because he happened to be from the Congress party.

The Congress MLAs, Mr. Sambhani Chandrasekhar, Mr. Younis Sultan, Mr. Vanama Venkateswar Rao and Mr. R. Venkata Reddy, the CPI(M) MLA, Mr. Sunnam Rajaiah who took part in the special meeting of the Zilla Parishad in the capacity of ex-officio members also congratulated the victors. The TDP MLA, Mr. Kondabala Koteswar Rao, and Mr. Tati Venkateswarlu, also exchanged pleasantries with Mr. Lingaiah and Kotaiah.

The Chairman and vice-chairman were taken out from the Zilla Parishhad meeting hall in a big rally by the Congress and CPI(M) workers. The Congress leaders organised a felicitation for Mr Lingaiah at the DCC office. Addressing the gathering the Khammam district Congress President, Mr. S. Chandrasekhar, said that the election of Mr. Lingaiah to the Zilla Parishad had lent new strength to the party. The Congress had captured the Zilla Parishad after two decades. He said the victory owed to the united efforts made by the party leaders.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Southern States
Previous : TDP gets 11 ZP chief posts, Cong. 7, TRS 1
Next     : Cong. nominee becomes ZP chief through lottery