Daijiworld Media Network - Puttur (SP)
Puttur, Feb 3: The ouster of Congress local strongman and block Congress president, Hemanath Shetty, from his post as a punishment for the role played by him in the formation of Bharathiya Hindu Parishad exclusively for serving interests of Hindus continues to prove dear for the party in the region.
Following in the line of all the block level Congress committee presidents, eight municipal coucillors tendered their resignations on Monday February 2, in retaliation for the removal of their leader.
The councillors who have opted to leave their posts happen to be H Muhammed Ali, Shakti Sinha, Jayanthi, Anwar Qasim, Mukesh Kemminje, Shaila Pai, Jayalakshmi Suresh and Jacinta Mascarenhas.
In their resignation letters addressed to district Congress president, B Ramanath Rai, the councillors pointed out that some Congress councillors had joined hands with their BJP counterparts twice in defeating official Congress candidate, H Muhammed Ali, in the election to the post of the municipal president. 'MLA, Shakuntala Shetty, is instrumental in driving a wedge within the party cadres here. Factionalism practiced by her is aimed at benefitting the BJP. Even in development works, she ignores Congress party workers and gives preference to people having connections with BJP. With the specific objective of weakening Congress party here, the MLA has put her weight behind efforts to remove the block Congress president and succeeded in her goal,' they added.
They have explained that these developments have hurt the sentiments of trusted followers of the party. 'We are sorry at these unexpected reverses, and mentally drained. As such, please permit us to leave out posts as municipal councillors,' they requested in identical resignation letters.
Block Congress vice presidents, Sabu Saheb and U Lokesh Hegde, general secretaries, Shahul Hameed and Ismail Salmara, joint secretary, Praveen Bhat Aranya, and Bannur booth committee president, Koragappa, have already resigned from their respective posts.
They said they are strongly opposed to the decision of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee in showing Hemanath Shetty the door, ignoring his sacrifices for the party. 'We are unhappy at the fact that Hemanath Shetty, who was instrumental for the victory of the party in the region, has been sacked, and a relatively unknown face, Fazal Raheem, has been installed in his place. Therefore, we are resigning,' they stated.