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 As many as 21 BJP members favour it while 16 from the Congress opposed it

Amid opposition from the Congress, the Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat in its general body meeting here on Monday passed a resolution superseding Haleyangady Gram Panchayat in Mangaluru taluk.

If 21 members of the ruling BJP favoured the decision, 16 members of the Opposition Congress opposed it.

Pandemonium prevailed in the House with the Congress members going to the Well raising slogans against the BJP. Countering it, the BJP members shouted “Bharat Mata Ki Jai”. The ruling party members also urged the Congress members to repeat their slogan.
The ruling party members pressed for the superseding of the gram panchayat stating that the gram panchayat has not conducted the mandated general meetings and gram sabhas and its administration has come to a standstill due to internal issues. The Congress members demanded that the zilla panchayat should appoint a senior officer to inquire into what was wrong in the administration of the panchayat and address the issues.

With both sides trading charges and also sloganeering, president of the zilla panchayat Meenakshi Shantigodu remained silent without announcing her decision for long. Upset with this, the ruling party members who started leaving the House demanded that the panchayat president either announce the decision of the zilla panchayat or join them after stepping down from the stage.

At this point, the panchayat president said that she would opt for division of votes. When the majority, all from the ruling BJP, favoured superseding, an official made the official announcement. When the Congress members continued their protest, the panchayat president adjourned the House for lunch.

Earlier, in August 2011, the BJP, which was ruling the zilla panchayat, had superseded the Hirebandady Gram Panchayat in Puttur taluk citing the same reasons. The Congress, which was in the opposition then along with the then Bantwal MLA B. Ramanath Rai, had opposed the move.

The then president of the zilla panchayat K.T. Shailaja Bhat allowed the resolution stating that it was a decision by a majority of members who attended the zilla panchayat meeting.

Recalling this to Ms. Shantigodu in the meeting on Monday, Mamatha Gatti, Congress member and also a former president of the zilla panchayat, told the ruling BJP that a court had later reinstated the Hirebandady Gram Panchayat.