Mangaluru: Three women councilors of the ruling Congress party are eyeing for the post of Mayor, which falls vacant next month. The stint of Mahabala Marla as Mayor of Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) will come to end on March 12.

According to the government notification, the post of Mayor has been reserved for a general category (woman) and the commissioner of Mysuru has been directed to oversee the election procedures.

As of now, the names of three women councilors are doing the rounds. They are: Jecintha Vijaya Alfred, Prathibha Kulai and Kavitha Sanil. The congress has 25 councilors in the corporation council.

Among the three, Mrs. Jecintha is the senior most contender and was in the race for the post even in the past. However, a source in the Congress said that the party is looking for a person beyond the minority community.

Meanwhile, Prathibha Kulai, who is a first time councilor, too enjoys a strong backing from the congress leaders. Given her educational records, Ms. Kulai has completed MSW, HRM and M.Phil in Social work. She is the most favored candidate in the Congress and is connected to the Billawa community.

Apart from them, Kavitha Sanil, councilor for the second term, too is in the race. In the past, she had left congress to contest election as an independent candidate but lost. Later, she joined congress and won the election. She is not a favored candidate in comparision to the other two, the source said.

Earlier, Jecintha Alfred was favoured to become the mayor. However, due to the changes in reservation, Mahabala Marla was chosen as the Mayor.

According to the source, Appi and Nagaveni, belonging to the background community, too have shown interest for the post. However, they have little chance for the post, as it is reserved for general category (woman). While for the Deputy Mayor’s post, councilor Latheef, Prakash Padil and Keshaw Maroli are the key contenders.