Congress candidates sweep Bantwal, Moodbidri by-elections

Mounesh Vishwakarma
Daijiworld Media Network – Bantwal (EP)

Bantwal, Mar 5: Congress candidates on Wednesday March 5 swept the by-election held for six Bantwal gram panchayats, winning five out of the six seats.

They are Vrandakshi at Kariangala with 348 votes, Narayana at Kariangala with 359 votes, Geetha from Sarapadi with 391 votes, Apoline Pinto from Kadeshwalya with 375 votes and Mohini Shivaram from
Vittal Padnoor. Only Manchi gram panchayat was won by the BJP, contested by candidate K Ganesh Aithal.

Congress has wrested Sarapadi gram panchayat and Kadeshwalya gram panchayat positions which were won by the BJP last time.

Panemangalore block Congress president Abbas Ali said that people have voted for Congress appreciating the achievement of Congress government and recognizing the pro-development vision of district incharge minister Ramanath Rai.

Zilla panchayat members Chandraprakash Shetty, Chandrashekar Balthila, Chandrashekar Bhandary, Veena Acharya, Padmanabha Rai, Ashok Barimar, Jagadish Jain, Ibrahim and Mohammed Nandavara were present.

Congress workers celebrated by bursting crackers as the counting of votes got over.

Congress candidate Rajesh wins Moodbidri municipal council by-election

Mangalore, Mar 5: A by-election was held on March 2 for the position of council member that became vacant after the death of Shivaraj Rai of Mariyadi first ward. In the results that were announced on Wednesday, March 5, Congress candidate Rajesh Kotekar was declared the winner with a margin of 156 votes.

The counting that started at 8 am on Wednesday was over within half an hour. This was the first attempt by Rajesh Kotekar, who secured 425 votes. Manjunath Rai who had lost against Congress candidate Shivaraj Rai last time lost by 269 votes. Surendra Shetty who contested for second time from JD(S) had to be satisfied with 47 votes. Altogether 741 people cast their votes, out of whom 388 were women and 353 men.

"The late Shivaraj Rai who had become a household name for services he rendered to society, completed 75% of the work in this ward. I will be sincerely completing the remaining 25% of the work. I am grateful for the guidance of party leaders, activists and friends," said Rajesh Kotekar.

Minister Abhayachandra Jain came to the counting centre and congratulated Rajesh Kotekar. Speaking to reporters, he dedicated the win to Shivaraj Rai.

"People have recognized Congress party's people-friendly work and made the party win. The win will be an inspiration for the activists to work harder," he said.

Block Congress president Meghanath Shetty, former municipal council president Ratnakar Devadiga, elected members of the council Supriya D Shetty, Anil Lobo, Koragappa, local leaders Chandrahasa Sanil, Suresh Prabhu etc were present. Party activists congratulated Rajesh Kotekar.

A procession was taken by the party workers from town municipality building to the bus stand to celebrate the victory.