Dharam Singh elected PCC president in Karnataka

Senior Congress leader Dharam Singh was elected as the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president on Wednesday.

In a triangular contest, Singh defeated his nearest rival M V Rajasekharan by a huge margin.

Pradesh returning officer Subhash Yadav said Singh secured 284 of the 323 votes polled. Rajasekharan polled just 38 votes. Another candidate, K B Koliwad, who retired in Rajasekharan's favour, drew a blank.

In all, 11 candidates had filed nominations for the president's post in the morning. However, eight withdrew later.

The election was postponed twice -- on June 9 and June 20 -- following a stay granted by the Shimoga district court on senior leader Sheernali Chandrasekhar's petition, alleging large- scale irregularities in district and block committee elections. The petition, however, was rejected by the Supreme Court.

Those who filed nominations included former chief minister M Veerappa Moily, S B Sidnal, G Puttaswamy Gowda and former minister Nazir Ahmed. All of them withdrew their papers after discussions.

Before pulling out of the contest, Moily sought an assurance from the returning officer that the irregularities in the elections would be set right.

Election for the post had become inevitable as a group led by former chief minister S Bangarappa decided to support Rajasekharan.

UNI