Amid possible dissidence, BJP succeeds in bagging top two posts in Yadgir CMC

Senior leaders Shailendra Beldale, Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, Ameen Reddy Patil Yalagi, Rachanagouda Mudnal and Mahesh Reddy Mudnal convinced the dissatisfied members of the need to stay together

Lalita Anpur and Rukiya Begum flashing the victory sign after their election in Yadgir recently. Senior BJP leaders, including Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, are seen. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Amid a threat of dissidence by rebel members, the BJP has succeeded in bagging the top two posts in the Yadgir City Municipal Council (CMC) in the recent elections.

Out of the 31 members in the House, the BJP has 16, the Congress 12, the Janata Dal(S) two and there is one Independent.

Apart from this, Member of Parliament G. Kumar Naik, Yadgir MLA Channareddy Patil Tunnur and BJP MLC Chalavadi Narayanaswamy also have the power to cast their vote.

Including these three, the total number of members voting go up to 34 and the magic figure to prove majority is 18.

Although the BJP has the numbers, there was a threat of dissidence from its own members and aspirants after Lalita Anpur was chosen as the candidate to contest the election for the post of the CMC president.

But, MLA and Yadgir in-charge Shailendra Beldale, MLC Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, district BJP president Ameen Reddy Patil Yalagi, Rachanagouda Mudnal and Mahesh Reddy Mudnal entered the field and met the dissatisfied members. After several rounds of meetings, they succeeded in convincing their own party members of the need to stay together.

“Taking it as a task, the leaders unitedly approached the members and succeeded in convincing them to stay together. As a result, a possible split between members was prevented,” a leader from the BJP said.

Whip issued

Even after this convincing succeeded, the BJP issued a whip to all its members securing votes for the party candidates. “We issued a whip apart from holding discussions with the dissatisfied members. As a party, the BJP worked out its political strategy to win the elections,” Mr. Yalagi said.

When the meeting for the elections began at the Taluk Panchayat Auditorium, all 16 members from the BJP, one Janata Dal(S) member, the lone Independent and party MLC Chalavadi Narayanaswamy were present and voted for their candidates.

Thus, Lalita Anpur and Rukiya Begum were elected as CMC president and vice-president.

“It happened because of the unity and coordination from all members and leaders. I will promise that I will take everyone into confidence and take up development works in the city,“ Ms. Anpur said after being elected.

Congress calculation

Though the Congress has no numbers, efforts were made to gain out of a possible dissatisfaction and split among BJP members.

The party was expecting to get the support of at least four-five members during the elections which would have taken it towards victory. But the BJP toppled its calculation.

More surprisingly, out of its 12 members, four remained absent from the election process. And, apart from this, both Mr. Kumar Naik and Mr. Tunnur, were absent.

“We did not have sufficient numbers. However, we hoped that the BJP’s dissatisfied members will support us. If Mr. Naik were to be present, it would have been different,” a leader who didn’t want to reveal his name said.

“By winning this election, the BJP has gained strength to face the upcoming elections to the zilla and taluk panchayats. The key opposition, the Congress, has to encourage its workers in the grassroots and adopt strategies to beat the BJP,” a political analyst said.