Mangaluru: Despite the fact that elections for Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) were held two-and-half months ago, the formation of a council has not been done so far. As a council has not been formed, elections for Mayor and Deputy Mayor are yet to be held. Even though BJP had once succeeded in securing power by winning 44 wards outs of 60 wards, it has not been able to enjoy mayoral power in the city to date. However, reliable sources have revealed that Gazette publication for the formation of a new city corporation council has been made, and elections for Mayor and Deputy Mayor will be held within a week.
According to sources, the mayoral post is meant for backward class – A category candidates this time. As BJP has won a thumping majority, BJP corporators belonging to Backward Class A category can contest in the election. Corporators Jayanand Anchan (who was voted to power from Kadri Padavu ward) and Divakar ( who was elected from Cantonment ward) are two candidates who are in the race for mayor right now.
Due to technical reasons, the government has failed to issue a Gazette notification so far. However, it is said that all obstacles pertaining to Gazette notification have been cleared now and the publication has already been made.
It may be recalled that the MCC elections were delayed by about a year owing to legal issues surrounding the rotational system of categorization for the posts of mayor and deputy mayor.
On December 28, 2019, the Karnataka government had issued a Gazette notification for the election of mayors, deputy mayors, presidents and vice presidents of 11 local urban bodies. But this notification will be applicable to the 22nd mayoral term of MCC, which is currently in its 21st term.
As the MCC Commissioner has written to the government, seeking an explanation in this regard, the state government has come out with a fresh Gazette notification and it will be released within a few days, sources informed.
