ZP, TP Elections to Be Held by June: CM Siddaramaiah

Ankola: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday announced that elections to the Zilla Panchayat (ZP) and Taluk Panchayat (TP) bodies in Karnataka will be conducted by June.

He was speaking after inaugurating the Gangavali–Manjuguni bridge in Manjuguni village of Ankola taluk. The Chief Minister said the State government is committed to strengthening local self-governance institutions through timely elections.

“Zilla Panchayat and Taluk Panchayat elections will be held by June,” Siddaramaiah stated, adding that the process would be initiated soon.

Responding to a demand to upgrade Gokarna into a Town Panchayat, he said the proposal cannot be implemented immediately due to the upcoming elections and the ongoing Census exercise. “There is a demand to form a Town Panchayat for Gokarna. However, since elections are approaching and the Census will also be conducted, it is not possible to create a new Town Panchayat at present. After the elections, we will take steps to constitute the Gokarna Town Panchayat,” he clarified.

On the demand to include the Halakki Vokkaliga community under the Scheduled Tribe category, Siddaramaiah said the proposal had been rejected by the Union Government. “The Centre has rejected the proposal to include Halakki Vokkaligas in the Scheduled Tribe list. The State government has decided to submit a revised proposal,” he said.

Highlighting infrastructure development, the Chief Minister said the newly inaugurated Gangavali–Manjuguni bridge would significantly benefit residents of Ankola and Gokarna regions. “With the construction of this bridge, people no longer have to travel an additional 18 kilometres. I had laid the foundation stone for this project in 2017 when I was Chief Minister. The subsequent BJP government did not complete the work. Today, I have inaugurated the same project,” he remarked.

Deputy Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar said a new tourism policy is being formulated to boost development in the coastal region. “We are preparing a new policy to promote tourism in the coastal belt. Projects will be implemented to attract tourists to Karnataka on the lines of Goa,” he said.

District in-charge Minister Mankal Vaidya and MLAs R.V. Deshpande, Satish Sail, Dinakar Shetty and Bheeman Naik were present at the event.