Mysore :With the term of office of the Mayor coming to an end today, speculations are on as to who will be the new Mayor to grace the world famous Dasara celebrations that are to begin in three weeks.
At present, the ball is in the Chief Minister’s court as he has to finalise the reservation category for the Mayor and Deputy Mayor’s posts.
Though the one year terms of Mayor N.M. Rajeshwari Somu and Deputy Mayor V. Shailendra comes to an end today, they will continue in their posts till the new ones are elected, as per the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, Section 10 (2). Though the MCC Corporators were elected on Mar. 7, 2013, they could assume charge of office on Sept. 5, 2013, the delay being caused by various reasons.
With the JD(S) forming an alliance with the BJP and an unwritten understanding that the Mayor and Deputy Mayor’s posts will be taken by the two parties, it is speculated that once again a JD(S) Corporator will be the Mayor, that is, depending on the reservation category, which, it is said, that the Mayor’s post will be a General category this time.
Senior-most Corporator K.T. Cheluve Gowda, elected four times from the JD(S), is said to be a strong contender for the post and is well respected by other party members too.
The other contender from the party is R. Lingappa, also elected four times. In the race for the top post are K.V. Mallesh and M.J. Ravikumar, both from the JD(S) and both elected twice. Ravikumar is a former Deputy Mayor and hence, the party seniors are to favour veteran Cheluve Gowda.
A pre-election coalition between the JD(S) and Congress is unlikely, according to political pundits of the city.
As per the figures, there are 72 votes to elect the Mayor, including the MP, MLAs and MLCs. Party-wise numbers are: Congress – 21, JD(S) – 20, BJP – 12, Independents – 7, SDPI – 2, KJP – 1 and BSR Congress – 1. Though 65 Corporators were elected for as many wards in city, one number falls short with the resignation of Manjula Manasa of Congress, who recently was nominated as the Chairperson of State Women’s Commission.
JD(S) has 20 plus 3 votes including MLA G.T. Deve Gowda, MLCs Sandesh Nagaraj and Marithibbe Gowda. Congress has 21 plus 3 votes including MLAs Vasu, M.K. Somashekhar and Tanveer Sait.
BJP has 12 plus 2 votes including MP Pratap Simha and MLC G. Madhusudan.
