Regional Commissioner Sanjay Shettannavar announced on Monday that the elections to the Mayor and Deputy Mayor posts in Vijayapura have been postponed. The rescheduled dates are not yet announced.
Mr. Shettannanavar, who is the Returning Officer for the polls, had to face protests from members of both the parties, the BJP and the Congress, who said that the polls were not being held as per norms.
BJP members said that Mr. Shettannanavar was not acting in a neutral manner and that he was acting as an agent of the ruling Congress.
Congress members said that some rules were not followed in the preliminary round of elections when some members raised their hands to support and oppose some candidates.
Court order
Earlier, the High Court refused to stay the polls but had asked the Returning Officer to declare the results only after the question of eligibility of some voters was decided.
This followed a petition in which the enrolment of four new Legislative Council members as Vijayapura residents and voters was questioned.
Three of the five independent corporation members who had announced that they will support the Congress said on the eve of the elections that they will support the BJP.
The Congress members said that three members were forcibly taken away by the BJP that had promised them money in return for their votes. BJP leaders refuted this.
BJP district president R.S. Patil Kuchabal said that they will protest against this and seek urgent elections.
