BJP workers celebrate the victory of Shankar Mugad (wearing garlands) in the elections to the post of DAMUL president in Dharwad on Friday.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
In a setback to the former Minister Vinay Kulkarni, his wife Shivaleela Kulkarni suffered defeat at the hands of BJP-supported candidate Shankar Mugad in the elections to the post of president of Dharwad Co-operative Milk Producers Union Ltd. (DAMUL) on Friday.
Shivaleela Kulkarni secured six votes, while Shankar Mugad polled eight votes to get re-elected as DAMUL president.
Having suffered defeats earlier, Mr. Vinay Kulkarni, now Dharwad MLA, had taken it as a prestige issue and got his wife nominated to the director’s post recently.
This appointment has been questioned in the High Court by Mr. Shankar Mugad whose contention is that the appointment violates the bylaws of DAMUL. The matter is now before the High Court.
In the election officiated by HDUDA Commissioner and Election Officer Santosh Biradar on Friday, three candidates, Shankar Mugad, Shivaleela Kulkarni and Geeta Marilingannavar, filed their nomination papers for the milk union president’s post.
For the DAMUL vice-president’s post, Sureshchandra Hegde was the lone candidate to file nomination papers and he was declared elected unopposed.
Mr. Mugad is a close confidant of the former MLA Amrut Desai who is seen as a rival of Mr. Kulkarni. After the results were announced, BJP supporters burst firecrackers and distributed sweets.
DAMUL comprises Dharwad, Gadag and Uttara Kannada districts. Haveri, which was part of DAMUL, now has its own milk union. And, this is the first election after the Haveri milk union was carved out of DAMUL.
In the elections to the director’s posts held on June 30, seven candidates supported by the BJP had won, while Congress-supported candidates had only won two.
Along with the nominated director, four ex-officio directors also had voting rights in the elections.
