Rajasthan panchayat polls: Rivals Congress, BJP join hands at two places, ditch own allies
Jaipur, Dec 11: In unlikely collaborations, rivals Congress and BJP came together at two places in Rajasthan to thwart local Bhartiya Tribal Party and Rashtriya Loktantrik Party leaders in the elections for zila pramukhs and panchayat samiti pradhans.
The BTP, a Congress ally which supported Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot during the revolt in his party earlier this year, is upset that the ruling party candidates chose BJP over it in the tribal Dungarpur district, where the small outfit is trying to expand its influence.
On Friday, it threatened to snap ties with the Congress in the state.
Similarly, the opposition BJP did not help its ally, Nagaur MP Hanuman Beniwal's RLP, bag a village head's post in Nagaur district. Instead, its candidates went for an independent nominee, supported also by the Congress.
In Dungarpur zila parishad, the newly elected Congress members voted Thursday for the BJP nominee for the pramukh's post in the district board, thwarting a BTP-backed candidate's bid.
Thirteen of the 27 seats in Dungarpur zila parishad were won by BTP-supported independent candidates. The BJP got six seats and the Congress eight.
The BTP needed just one Congress member's vote for a nominee backed by it for the district board head's post. Instead, its ally supported BJP member Surya Ahari, who had filed her nomination papers as an independent candidate for the zila pramukh's post.
The state assembly has two BTP MLAs, who went with the Congress in the last Rajya Sabha election.
The tribal-dominated party had fielded its members as independent candidates in the elections for panchayat Samiti and zila parishad members.
BTP state president Velaram Ghoghra said the party is now set to snap its links with the Congress over the development.
We had supported the Congress government at the time of need and now we were expecting reciprocation in zila pramukh elections. We just needed one member to form the board but the Congress surprisingly ditched us and joined hands with the BJP, Ghoghra said.
The party is now going to cut ties with the Congress government. A party executive meeting will be held in a couple of days and a formal decision will be announced, he told PTI.
Rajasthan BJP president Satish Poonia claimed that it was local politics playing out.
The decision was left to the local leaders who decided as per the local political circumstances, he said.
In Nagaur's Khinwsar panchayat samiti, RLP was just one short of the halfway mark to get its candidate elected to the pradhan's post. In the 31-member body, the RLP won 15 seats, the Congress eight and BJP five. Three seats went to independent candidates.
Here, the Congress, the BJP and the independents got together to get an independent member elevated to the post. Had the BJP members voted for its ally, the RLP nominee would have won.
The results for the elections for panchayat samiti and zila parishad members were announced on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The elected members then voted for the post of pramukhs in zila parishads and pradhans in panchayat samitis on Thursday.
Twelve BJP, five Congress and three independent candidates -- including Surya Ahari in Dungarpur -- were elected to the posts of pramukh in 20 zila parishads for which results were announced on Thursday night
BJP candidates were elected to the posts of pradhan in 98 of the 221 panchayat samitis across 21 districts. Congress candidates won 97 posts.
In Tonk panchayat samiti, where no party got a mandate, the Congress managed to get the pradhan's post with the backing of three independent candidates, who had pledged support to Congress leader and Tonk MLA Sachin Pilot.
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Austrian police detain suspect in case of rat poison found in baby food jars on supermarket shelves
Vienna (AP): Police in eastern Austria say a 39-year-old suspect has been arrested after rat poison turned up in some HiPP baby food jars on supermarket shelves in central Europe.
HiPP, which recalled some of its baby food jars in Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic after the case came to light last month, said in a statement Saturday it was “greatly relieved” by the arrest, and would provide further updates as verified details come in.
The Burgenland State Criminal Police Office, under the direction of prosecutors, said a probe was launched after poison turned up in a baby food jar purchased at a supermarket in the city of Eisenstadt on April 18.
It said the suspect was being questioned, and that no further details would be immediately provided. The Burgenland public prosecutor's office has announced an investigation into suspected “intentional endangerment of the public.”
The Austrian Press Agency reported that an expert report on the toxicity of the poison was pending. A total of five tampered baby food jars were seized before they could be consumed, APA reported.
Authorities said previously they believe the tampering occurred in 190-gram (6.7-ounce) jars of baby food made with carrots and potatoes for 5-month-olds that were sold from SPAR supermarkets in Austria.
HiPP responded by recalling all of its baby food jars sold at SPAR supermarkets — which include SPAR, EUROSPAR, INTERSPAR and Maximarkt stores — in Austria as a precaution. Vendors in Slovakia and the Czech Republic also removed all of the brand's baby jars from sale.
The company said the recall was not due to any product or quality defect on its part, and said the jars left its facility in “perfect condition.”
Police said a customer at the time of the discovery had reported that a jar appeared to have been tampered with, but no one had consumed the baby food.
