Date:27/12/2005 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2005/12/27/stories/2005122703090300.htm

Karnataka - Bijapur

Countdown for counting begins

Staff Correspondent

Many contestants start arriving in taluk headquarters after pilgrimage

FINAL PREPARATIONS: Counting of votes will be taken up at P.D.J. Junior College in Bijapur on Tuesday.

BIJAPUR: The countdown has begun for counting of ballot papers of the zilla and taluk panchayat elections on Tuesday even as many contestants, who had gone on pilgrimage after polling, have started arriving in their respective taluk headquarters.

The district administration has made an elaborate arrangement for counting of ballot papers at all taluk headquarters, including Bijapur. The P.D.J. Junior College is the counting centre for nine zilla panchayat seats in Bijapur taluk, besides 31 taluk panchayat seats.

According to Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Mohsin, preparations are complete in other taluks such as Basavanabagewadi (Basaveshwar Junior College building), Muddebihal (M.G.V.C. Degree College), Indi (Sri Santeshwar Junior College) and Sindagi (Sri R.D. Patil College).

Elections were held for the 38-member zilla panchayat and five taluk panchayats on December 23. The Congress has opened its account in Bijapur and Indi taluk panchayat bodies with three of its nominees being elected unopposed. While 186 contestants have tested their fortunes in the zilla panchayat elections, the fate of 534 candidates will be known when the ballot boxes of five taluk panchayats with 141 seats, excluding the three elected, are opened on the morrow.

Obviously, the stakes are high for all major parties, especially the Congress, the Janata Dal (S) and the Bharatiya Janata Party. Though the outcome of every seat is important for all the major players, a few segments are under special focus because of the candidates who are known public figures.

For instance, Halasangi segment in Indi taluk is in focus because the president of Bhima Nadi Neeru Horata Samiti, Panchappa Kalburgi, is contesting on Janata Dal (Secular) ticket there. He returned to Janata Parivar in the eleventh hour after a brief hobnobbing with the BJP.

Another keenly watched segment is Anjutagi as the former zilla panchayat president Yashwantraygoud Patil has been seeking re-election from there.

Shirol segment in Mudhol taluk (Bagalkot District) has drawn attention as senior leaders from the Congress, the BJP and the Janata Dal (S) have had a close fight there. While former zilla panchayat member and president of Runna Sugars Limited, Ramanna Talewad, has contested on the BJP ticket, the former zilla panchayat president Shivkumar Malgana has been in the fray as the Congress nominee. The Janata Dal (S) has fielded Dareppa Sanglikar, who was the party candidate in the last Lok Sabha election from Bagalkot constituency. The elections in the segment also turned out to be a proxy war between Mudhol MLA Govind Karjol (BJP) and the former Minister R.B. Thimmapur.