Mysuru: The group led by Chamundeshwari MLA G.T. Devegowda   (GTD) swept the polls held to the Board of Directors of Karnataka State Co-operative Federation in  Bengaluru on Sunday.

The election took place at the Federation office located on Bengaluru’s Race Course Road from 9 am to 4 pm on Sunday, following which the counting of votes was taken up. 

All the 14 candidates belonging to GTD group won the polls.

There were 26 candidates in the fray for 13 seats from 29 District Unions, while four candidates contested for the lone seat from miscellaneous sector.

Those declared elected are as follows:

Mysuru Division (3 seats)- G.T. Devegowda (Mysuru), B.C. Lokappa Gowda (Chikkamagalur) and Jayakar Shetty (Udupi).

Bengaluru Division (4 seats)- H.N. Ashok (Ramanagara), A.C. Nagaraj (Bengaluru Rural), Ramireddy (Chitradurga) and B.D. Bhookanth (Shivamogga).

Belagavi Division (3 seats)- Jagadish Mallikarjun Kavatagimath (Belagavi), Eeranna Pattanashetty (Vijayapura) and Basavaraj Arabagonda (Haveri).

Kalaburagi Division (3 seats)- Shekargouda Patil  (Koppal), Umakanth Nagamarpalli (Bidar) and J.M. Shivaprasad (Ballari).

Gadigeppagouda Patil, also belonging to GTD group, won  from other Co-operative Societies seat, thus making it 14 out of 14  seats for GTD’s group.

The newly elected Directors were greeted by the Federation’s Administrative Officer Y.H. Gopalakrishna, Managing Director S.N. Arunkumar, Secretary Lakshmipathaiah and Returning Officer Satish Chandra.

Later speaking to press persons after his group’s emphatic victory, GTD said that he will take into confidence even the defeated candidates for better functioning of the Federation.

Pointing out that programmes will be chalked out for educating the Co-operators on the changes and advances made in the Co-operative sector, he said that the Co-operative sector is like a lifeline for the rural economy.

Noting that iconic leaders such as Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi had said that the Co-operative sector is the gateway to the country’s economy, he said that it is the responsibility of all Co-operators to live up to the aspirations of the people.

All efforts will be made to ensure that the reputation of the Federation reach newer heights, he added.