Mysore/Mysuru: The syndicate backed by Chamundeshwari MLA G.T. Devegowda (GTD) recorded a landslide win in the MyMUL (Mysuru Milk Union Limited) polls held yesterday.

The syndicate won 12 out of the 15 Director posts in the Co-operative Milk body, while the opposition syndicate backed by K.R. Nagar JD(S) MLA S.R. Mahesh and supported by former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy managed to win only three seats.

The polling had taken place at the KMF training centre in Mega Dairy premises located at Alanahalli on Bannur Road yesterday.

The polls recorded 99.99 percent voting with 1,051 of the 1,052 eligible voters from the district casting their ballots. A total of 29 candidates were in the fray for 7 Director posts in Mysuru Sub-Division and 8 Director posts in Hunsur Sub-Division. The counting of votes was taken up after the voting ended at 4 pm and the results were out within a couple of hours, with GTD syndicate recording a huge win. The GTD syndicate made a clean sweep in Hunsur Sub-division, winning all the 8 seats from here. However, in Mysuru Sub-Division, the syndicate backed by S.R. Mahesh gave a tough fight to GTD syndicate and managed to win three out of the seven Director posts, while the rest four went to the opposition camp (GTD syndicate).

List of winners, along with number of votes they got, is as follows:

Hunsur Sub-Division: K.S. Kumar (508 votes), A.T. Somashekar (499), K. Eeregowda (495), Jagadish (486), P.M. Prasanna (482), Drakshayini (472), A. Shivagami (457) and H.D. Rajendra (423).

All the winners belonged to GTD-backed syndicate, with the syndicate led by S.R. Mahesh drawing a blank. Also, Rangaswamy, who contested independently, fared poorly and managed to secure a paltry 13 votes.

Mysuru Sub-Division: B. Neelambike Mahesh (244 votes), Leela (228), B.N. Sadananda (221), C. Omprakash (206), R. Cheluvaraju (184), K.G. Mahesh (178) and K. Umashankar (165).

While C. Omprakash, B.N. Sadananda, B. Neelambike Mahesh and Leela Nagaraj belonged to GTD syndicate, K. Umashankar, R. Cheluvaraju and K.G. Mahesh were from S.R. Mahesh-backed syndicate.

The losers from GTD syndicate are as follows: J. Suneetha Veerappa Gowda (105), S. Siddegowda (134) and K.C. Balaram (152), who all lost from Mysuru Sub-Division.

The losers from S.R. Mahesh-backed syndicate are: B. Guruswamy (126), Mangalamma (107), Yashoda (122) and Shivamurthy (99), all from Mysuru Sub-Division and Pushpalatha (66), B.A. Prakash (89), C.S. Rudregowda (106), S.K. Madhuchandra (155), M.K. Rani (91) and P. Basavanna (80), all from Hunsur Sub-Division.

The notable losers from GTD syndicate are Suneetha Veerappa Gowda, a former MLA from Bannur, S. Siddegowda, the Immediate Past President of  MyMUL and K.C. Balaram, a former ZP President, who  lost contesting from Mysuru Sub-Division.

The notable losers from S.R. Mahesh-backed syndicate are S.K. Madhuchandra, brother-in-law of former Minister H.D. Revanna and Shivamurthy.

Joint Director of Co-operation Department G.C. Janardhan, was the Returning Officer.

Reacting to the emphatic victory of the syndicate backed by him, Chamundeshwari MLA G.T. Devegowda, who is also a senior Co-operator, said that there should be no politics in the functioning of Co-operative bodies.

Recalling his long association with the Co-operative sector, GTD said that it was former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy who first nominated him as the Chairman of State Co-operative Federation. Later, he continued in the post with the blessings of Congress stalwarts such as S.M. Krishna and D.K. Shivakumar, he said and reiterated that there should be no political interference in the functioning of Co-operative Societies and other bodies.

Maintaining that Co-operative institutions must function with autonomy, the MLA said that he was disappointed that JD(S) leader and former CM H.D. Kumaraswamy entered the MyMUL poll scene, based on the wrong advice given by some leaders of his own party.

MCDCC Bank President G.D. Harish Gowda, son of MLA G.T. Devegowda, who was in the forefront of the campaign for MyMUL polls, said that the MyMUL polls results have showed that there is no space for political interference in the Milk body.

Maintaining that his father GTD did not speak against any political party or leader, Harish Gowda credited the victory of GTD syndicate backed candidates to the hardwork done by GTD in the Co-operative sector for decades.

Pointing out that MyMUL polls were not held on party lines, he said that the electors have voted the candidates who work for the betterment of the Milk body.