S.N. Bhat wins dist panchayat in Kasargod after recounting

KASARGOD: The LDF has bagged the Kasargod district panchayat following recounting of votes in three divisions on Wednesday night.

The IUML and the BJP lost one seat each while the INL and the Congress gained one each after the recounting. Earlier, the UDF and the LDF had won seven seats each with the BJP securing two in the 16-member district panchayat.

The LDF has now secured eight seats, the UDF seven and the BJP one in the district panchayat after the recounting.

When the counting was completed on Wednesday morning, Sarada S.N. Bhat of the BJP had won the Madhur division, defeating Congress candidate P.A. Ashrafali with a majority of 12 votes.

But the UDF workers besieged the chamber of district collector Minhaj Alam, the chief electoral officer in the district, demanding recounting of the votes in Madhur division.

Tion mounted on Wednesday evening as BJP activists also besieged the office of the district collector demanding that Sarada S.N. Bhat be declared elected from Madur division.

The officials conducted recounting on Wednesday night as the defeated candidates made the request to the district collector. Later, after the recounting, P. A. Asharali of the Congress was declared elected from the Madhur division with a majority of 81 votes.

Mohammed Mubarak Haji of the INL was declared elected from the Chemnad division, after the recounting, defeating his nearest rival C.L. Rasheed of the IUML with a majority of 35 votes.