SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, June 15: BJP-supported candidate Sharda Devi was elected the chairman of the Dhanbad District Board on Wednesday. Deputy Commissioner (DC) Sandip Singh administered the oath and presented a certificate to her.
In the election, Sharda Devi got 24 votes out of the total 29 members of the District Board. Five members boycotted the poll saying that money power was used in the election to influence the members which is a violation of democracy. This time, the post of Dhanbad District Board chairman was reserved for a woman.
The proceeding started at 9.30 am at the Collectorate. The DC administered oath to all newly elected 29 members and later the process for nomination started. Only Sharda Devi filed the nomination for the post of chairman. In the poll, 24 members voted in the favour of Sharda Devi while five walked out of the hall.
Sharda Devi, who was elected from Mahuda, was backed by the BJP MLA of Baghmara Dhulu Mahto.
Earlier, all 18 newly elected District Board members who had been gone Darjeeling a week ago, returned to Dhanbad by bus today in the early morning after visiting Gangtok, Tarapith to participate in the chairman election.
The election of Sharda Devi as chairman is being considered a personal victory of Baghmara MLA Dhulu Mahto who was facing joint challenges from Congress state working president Jaleshwar Mahto and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) senior leader Mathura Prasad Mahto (Tundi MLA). But finally, Dhulu emerged as the kingmaker. He had garnered the support of 18 members (15 needed for victory) but at last, it swelled to 24 out of 29.
