Mangaluru City Corporation Mayoral Election POSTPONED due to Technical Glitch
Mangaluru: The City of Mangaluru was supposed to get its New Mayor, but all in vain. The election for the 23rd mayor scheduled to be held at Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) on Wednesday, 2 March 2022 has been postponed due to technical issues.
MCC commissioner Akshy Sridhar speaking to the media said that the election has been postponed as per the directions of the regional commissioner’s office. In a letter to the MCC commissioner, the office of the regional commissioner in Mysuru has stated the mayoral election has to be postponed in the wake of a Supreme Court order based on a special leave petition related to the state of Maharashtra.
Karnataka had made a notification reserving the mayor’s post for the general category and the deputy mayor’s post for backward classes A woman (BCAW) for the 23rd term. However, Dakshina Kannada deputy commissioner Dr KV Rajendra has sought clarification as to whether the Supreme Court order applies to the election in MCC too. The government is yet to reply. Hence, the election has been postponed, a communique from the regional commissioner’s office stated.
BJP leaders were busy selecting candidates for the mayor and deputy mayor’s posts but the regional commissioner’s circular postponing the election has upset the party which has a clear majority in the MCC. In the election held in November 2019, BJP won 44 wards, Congress won 14 and SDPI got two seats. Mayor Premanand Shetty’s term ended on 1 March 2022. However, he and the deputy mayor will still continue with their posts until the Mayoral elections are finalized and rescheduled again.
