BELAGAVI: In a surprise development, Congress MLA Anjali Nimbalkar suffered an unexpected defeat in the election to the Belagavi DCC Bank board of directors held here on Friday against her nearest rival and former MLA Aravind Patil. Both the leaders had contested from the Khanapur constituency of cooperative organisations.
A group of BJP leaders, headed by Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi and Water Resources Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi, had ensured the election to 13 of the 16 seats unopposed. On Friday, the polls were held for Khanapur, Ramdurg and weavers’ constituency on Friday where supporters of Satish Jarkiholi (Congress) and BJP were in fray.
Despite herding 28 members from various cooperative organisations of Khanapur to a private resort in neighbouring Maharashtra a few days ago, Nimbalkar could not muster the 27 votes she needed to win the seat. At the last moment, three members from her group defected to the rival side and Patil secured 27 votes against Nimbalkar’s 25.
Nimbalkar had entered the fray with the support of Satish Jarkiholi and expected to become the first woman director of DCC Bank. Soon after the results, Nimbalkar said she would continue to work for the welfare of the cooperative sector in Khanapur constituency. She denied that any member from her group cross-voted in favour of Patil. “I am happy that I have been able to put up a brave fight in the election even as many men leaders teamed up against me,” she added.
To ensure elections unopposed in all the constituencies, the BJP group had tried to persuade Nimbalkar but in vain. The BJP group supported Patil, who was the director of DCC Bank for the last three terms, from Khanapur region. From Ramdurg, Shrikant Dhaval, who was also supported by the BJP group, won, while from the weavers constituency, Krishna Ramling, supported by Satish Jarkiholi won the election.