Congress may stake claim for Mayor’s post in Mysuru

With just a few days left for the election of Mayor and Deputy Mayor, the Congress seems to be asserting its position as the single largest party within the coalition by staking a claim for the Mayor’s post.

In an effort to assert itself, the Congress corporators held a meeting, under the leadership of former chief minister Siddaramaiah, in the city recently. Siddaramaiah, who had kept aloof of the political developments of the district since his debacle in the last Assembly poll in Chamundeshwari segment against District in-charge Minister G T Devegowda, has started showing interest of late.

It has to be mentioned that till the election of the last Mayor Bhagyalakshmi, there was the JD(S)-BJP coalition. Bhagyalakshmi was a Congress corporator, supported by the JD(S) and BJP. She had defeated her party’s official candidate Kamala Uday. The post was reserved for ST woman.

Similarly, in various local bodies, the JD(S)-BJP coalition had kept the Congress away from power. Since the formation of the JD(S)-Congress coalition state government, the truck will be a new experiment in the district.

Hectic lobbying is reported in both the parties — JD(S) and Congress — which would form the coalition in the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC). The election to the MCC was held on August 31 and the results were declared on September 3.

The election to the Mayor’s post will be held on November 17. The announcement of reservation for the post of Mayor and Deputy Mayor was made immediately after the declaration of the results.

However, the election was delayed due to various reasons. While the Mayor’s post is reserved for general category woman, Deputy Mayor’s post is reserved for Backward Classes A (BCM-A). The coalition is necessitated as no party has won a simple majority in the MCC. The BJP is the single largest party with 22 corporators in the 65-member council. It is closely followed by Congress with 19 seats and JD(S) 18.

In addition, there are five independents and one Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) corporator. Since many years, no single party enjoyed a simple majority in the MCC, so coalition has become a norm.

During the last five-year term, the JD(S) bagged the mayor’s post with the help of the BJP. BJP played second fiddle and was content with the deputy mayor’s post.

Following the delimitation of wards and change in
quota, almost 50% of the Corporators are women — 32 out of 65.

According to sources, the posts would be shared among the coalition partners during alternate terms — five terms over five years.

As the mayor’s post is reserved for a woman for the first term, men corporators would not allow a woman from the BCM-A category to become deputy mayor.

The contenders in the Congress for the Mayor’s post are: H M Shantha Kumari, Ward 32, Ghousia Nagar ‘A’ Block; Hajira Seema, Ward 34, Kalyangiri; Puttaningamma, Ward 54, Gundu Rao Nagar; B Bhuvaneshwari, Ward 60, Ashokapuram; and Shobha, Ward 61, Vidyaranyapuram.

In the JD(S), the aspirants for the Mayor’s post are: S Prema, Ward 2, Manchegowdanakoppalu; Reshma Banu, Ward 17, Bannimantap; Bhagya Madesh, Ward 19, Jayalakshmipuram; Tasneem, Ward 26, Meena Bazar; Ashwini Anathu, Ward 37, Raghavendra Nagar; and Savitha Suresh, Ward 44, Janata Nagar. In the Congress, except for Shanatha Kumari, all are first-timers. She was also deputy mayor once. In the JD(S), despite being first-time Corporator, S Prema (Prema Shankaregowda) is a senior party leader. Besides, Ashwini Ananthu and Tasneem are two-time corporators. Bhagya Madesh has a strong family background.

For the Deputy Mayor’s post, the aspirants in Congress are: Ayub Khan, Ward 13, Udayagiri; Arif Husain, Ward 16, Subash Nagar; and Syed Hazrath Ullah, Ward 29, NR Mohalla.

The aspirants for Deputy Mayor’s post in JD(S) are: Sawood Khan, Ward 14, Sathya Nagar; Mohammed Rafique, Ward 27, Veeranagere; and Shafi Mohammed, Ward 31, Ghousia Nagar.

The Congress leaders’ argument for staking a claim for the first term of the mayor is that the party does not have even a single minister from the region. They are also citing the formula in Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), where the Congress and JD(S) are coalition partners.

Meanwhile, the BJP is waiting in the wings, hoping that the JD(S)-Congress coalition would turn sour. It is still hopeful of continuing its partnership with the JD(S).