Mangaluru: It’s official! The much-awaited election for the post of Mayor and Deputy Mayor in the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) will be held on February 28. As the Mayor’s post has been reserved for backward class ‘A’ category, Divakar Pandeshwar, third-time corporator from the Cantonment ward, has a good chance of winning this coveted post.
This development comes after the principal secretary directed the Commissioner of the MCC to proceed with the mayoral and deputy mayoral elections as per the reservation roster for the 21st term dated September 3, 2018. Accordingly, the mayor will now be a candidate from the backward class ‘A’ category while the deputy mayor is reserved for women of the ‘general’ category.
Corporators Divakar from Cantonment (Ward No 46), Jayanand Anchan from the Padavu (Ward No 22) and Sharath Kumar from the Kunjathbail North (Ward No 13) are in the race to become mayor. As Divakar has won the corporator elections for the third time, he is highly likely that he will become the Mayor. However, the party is yet to finalise its candidate. Sources from the BJP have informed that a meeting will be convened shortly, in the presence of Mangaluru South MLA D Vedavyas Kamath and Mangaluru North MLA Dr Y Bharath Shetty.
MCC Commissioner Shanady Ajith Kumar Hegde informed that Mysuru regional commissioner Yashwanth V will be conducting the election on February 28 at 11.30 am. He also informed that a letter will be sent to all elected members in this regard.
Even though the elections for the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) were held nearly three months ago, the formation of a council has not been done so far. As a council has not yet been formed, elections for Mayor and Deputy Mayor have also not been conducted till date. But now, the date for the election of mayor and deputy mayor has been fixed. Once the elections are over, the elected members can do their jobs properly.
