BUDA chief appointment stayed

BELLARY: The war of attrition between the two front-ranking Congress leaders of the district, M. Diwakar Babu and K.C. Kondaiah, has come in the way of the appointment of Zaheer Ahmed as chairman of the Bellary Urban Development Authority.
In a coup, political leaders opposed to Zaheer taking over the reins of BUDA got a stay order issued against his posting.Widely seen as a nominee of Karnataka Minister of State for Co-operation Babu, Zaheer was to be sworn into office on Monday.
Deputy Commissioner Jawaid Akhtar is currently holding the additional charge of BUDA chairman and had been pressuring the government to appoint a full-time functionary.
The under secretary of the urban development issued an order on Friday appointing Zaheer to BUDA.
All is not well with the Bellary district unit of the Congress with both the Kondaiah and Babu groups attempting to apportion credit for civil and other works being carried out. The appointment of chairman to the BUDA was a major issue that could not be ignored by either of the factions.
Though the stage was set for the installation ceremony on Monday, there were rumours doing rounds that the department had been asked to delay the handing over of charge and the deputy commissioner was asked to continue in the post till further orders.
The sources claimed that all misgivings will be cleared by Monday night and Babu is currently camping in Bangalore.
On Monday, the deputy commissioner refused to be drawn into controversy and all that he conceded is that a stay order had indeed been issued.
Sources claimed that Kondaiah, member of the Legislative Council, could not stand Babu’s handpicked nominee being appointed to the BUDA and therefore got the stay order issued.
It is also said the district in-charge minister was not happy with the choice of Zaheer as BUDA requires a more efficient and experienced person at the helm.
The whole drama is a re-enactment of the 2001 episode when the candidature of Humayun Khan, three-time councillor and a close aide of Kondaiah, was scuppered by Babu and the decision had to be kept in abeyance despite Khan’s name being cleared by Chief Minister S M Krishna.
This incident sowed the seeds for a rift between Kondaiah and Babu, which has been widening ever since and if left unchecked might split the party right down the middle.
Interestingly, police security forces have been posted around the deputy commissioner’s office and also the residence of Kondaiah as a precaution to to rule out any trouble.