Mysuru: The members of the Mysuru zilla panchayat (ZP) appear to be watching the clock very closely as the hour for the elections to the post of the ZP president and vice-president draw nigh. A day after Chamarajanagar MP R Dhruvanarayana met Congress workers, and members of the ZP at Jaladarshini Guest House to discuss the party’s strategy for the elections, where the party activists asked the leadership to push for the president’s post in the panchayat, JD(S) leaders and workers met on Thursday evening.Sources in the JD(S) said that the members in the panchayat were adamant in their demand to retain the president’s post – tourism minister SR Mahesh’s brother SR Nandish is currently the in-charge president of the panchayat. The rationale of the JD(S) workers is that the party has ceded the mayor’s post in the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) Council to the Congress, and the latter must now be magnanimous and give up the ZP president’s post to the JD(S). “However, we will leave the final decision to chief minister HD Kumaraswamy, since any confusion would adversely affect the stability of the state government. Senior Congress leader and former CM Siddaramaiah does not appear too keen on claiming the ZP president’s post for the Congress, so they might settle for the vice-president’s post,” said a source in the JD(S).Nandish told TOI that JD(S) members had discussed the implications of forging a fresh alliance with the Congress, given that the party is presently sharing power in the panchayat with the BJP. “Personally, I would prefer an alliance with the Congress, since continuing to share power with the BJP might lead to confusion given that the Lok Sabha elections are close,” Nandish said.With 21 members in the 49-member house, Congress is the single largest party in the Mysuru ZP, while JD(S) has 20 members. The BJP’s strength in the ZP is eight.Nandish admitted to opinions about allying with the Congress being divided within the party. “Many prefer continuing the alliance with the BJP, since we had announced that the understanding would be valid for the full five-year term. But a lot of developments have taken place in the state since then both in Karnataka, and Mysuru,” Nandish said.

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