Cong bags top posts of Bellary ZP

bellary: the elections to the top posts of bellary zilla panchayat were a tame affair at the zilla panchayat conference hall here on monday when what was touted a hotly contested poll tapered off into a forum for declaring candidates unanimously. sanna hanumakka, lone contender, was declared the president and k.s.l. swamy, again a lone contender, the vice-president, both belong to congress.president-elect hanumakka declared: ``i will work towards fulfilling the aspirations of the people and will respond to their problems.'''' she said she will take up drinking water projects on priority. for the second phase of the zilla panchayat, hanumakka was the only candidate to file nomination papers on monday. ditto with swamy for the post of vice-president. the name of hanumakka, who represents the hampi zilla panchayat constituency, was proposed by outgoing president venkatrao ghorpade and that of k.s.l. swamy, representing taranagar constituency, by outgoing vice-president p.h. doddaramanna. election process began at 11 a.m. besides hanumakka and swamy, nomination papers from no other candidates were received. gulbarga divisional commissioner g.k. lokare, who conducted the elections, declared the results. deputy commissioner jawaid akhtar was present. hanumakka thanked rajya sabha member k.c. kondaiah, district congress committee (dcc) president shiraj shaikh, district in-charge minister m.y. ghorpade, outgoing president venkatrao ghorpade and local leaders for electing her to the coveted post. she expressed hope she will live up to the expectations. vice-president kurubara sware lingappa swamy said he was grateful to all concerned who chose him for the post. he vowed to work hard, particularly in implementing projects that come under the special package announced by congress president sonia gandhi soon after her victory from bellary in the 1999 lok sabha elections. he said he will make the district a model to be emulated by others. wishing hanumakka and swamy a good stint at the helm, venkatrao ghorpade said the second phase of the zilla panchayat term was very crucial to projects in that it concerned the process of implementation. ``in the last 20 months, we succeeded in obtaining grants under various schemes to the panchayat. now the duo of president and her deputy should steer the district towards the path of development, providing quality administration and ensuring quality in implementing development works.'''' minister of state for rural development and panchayat raj m. diwakar babu congratulated the newly elected president and vice-president. he lauded congress zilla panchayat members who paved way for unanimous election of party candidates. he called upon the newly elected chiefs to uphold the honour of zilla panchayat for which bellary is known.