Council Chairman election on April five

Bangalore, Mar 30 (UNI) The contentious election for Chairman of Karnataka Legislative Council will be held on April five.

A notification to this effect was issued by Governor T N Chaturvedi here today.

The Chairman post had been lying vacant for more than nine months after the retirement of Mr V R Sudarshan.

The Opposition Congress had been vociferously demanding immediate holding of the election and even held up the proceedings of the House for a brief period. It took up the matter to the Governor and sought his intervention on the issue.

Reacting to the notification, Opposition leader in Legislative Council H K Patil told newsmen that it was a victory for democracy that the government finally heeded to Congress demand.

He said that the party, which had the majority in the upper house, would field its own candidate in the election but left the decision of choosing the contestant to the high command.

''The party in the state will abide by the decision of the high command and will fully back the candidate whether be it a women, a member of minority or from OBC community,'' he said.

UNI