BJP chairman and BRS vice-chairman elected in Khanapur municipality

Ankam Mounika was elected chairperson and Mohd Shoaib vice-chairman of Khanapur municipality amid political tensions, with allegations against Congress over disruptions, marking the conclusion of repeatedly postponed civic body elections

Nirmal: The BJP candidate Ankam Mounika was elected as the chairperson, while the BRS candidate Mohd Shoaib was elected as the vice-chairman for the Khanapur municipality, for which elections were held even as the Congress tried to create hurdles on Sunday.

There are 12 elected members in the municipality and the election was postponed twice earlier. Local MLA Vedma Bojju, who registered himself as an ex-officio member, objected to officials for asking Mounika to prove her majority based on alphabetical order, prompting officials to reschedule the election to Sunday.

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Vedma Bojju was alleged to have made all out efforts to get his candidate elected, but in vain. Pochavva, a councillor from BRS, was allegedly kidnapped by the Congress in an apparent attempt to clinch the power.

In elections to municipality held on February 11, while BJP and BRS had a strength of four councillors each, the Congress had three councillors and another Independent registered victory,

Earlier, the election was stalled due to unsuitable conditions prevailing during the process on February 17. The election was postponed to February 17 due to lack of quorum at the time of a special meeting conducted on February 16. As per a recent direction of the High Court, the State Election Commission issued an order to hold the election on Saturday.