Resort politics enter village panchayat arena in Karnataka

Haveri (Karnataka) [India], December 8 : Resort politics is no longer confined to just MLA, MPs or councillors, a group of Panchayat members in Karnataka enjoyed 40 days of luxury stay in a bid to bring down a Sarpanch of Devaragudda village, a source said.
The curious case of Ranebennur Taluk came to light in a Gram Panchayat in Karnataka, where the village body members stayed at a Bengaluru resort for over a month and took a flight to return and vote under codename 'Operation Gram Panchayat'.
The 10-member team arrived by plane to present the no-confidence motion against Sarpanch, Malatesh Duragappa Nair, who went back on his word to exit office in 15 months, as per the agreement reached regarding the tenure of the village head.
Nair, after the completion of his tenure, refused to vacate his seat to make way for a new president of the village body, and instead succeeded in not giving up the post.
This is when the members decided to present a motion of no confidence against the Sarpanch, the sources confirmed.
Of a total of 13 members in the panchayat, nine belonged to the Santhosh Bhatt Guruji's (head priest of Devaragudda Malathesha Swamy Temple) faction and the rest to the BJP.
"Santhosh Bhatt Guruji founded our village, and our target organization," the village sources said.
One of the Gram panchayat members, who came from the resort and participated in the motion of no-confidence said, "The decision was taken for a no-confidence motion because the panchayat president retracted. There was apprehension that Malatesh would hijack the members of Gram Panchayat."
The Taluk Deputy Divisional Officer Shivananda Ullagaddi conducted the motion of no confidence.