With the tenure of Mayor Sunanda Palanetra and Deputy Mayor Anwar Baig scheduled to come an end in the last week of February 2022, members of Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) aspiring for the posts are looking forward to an announcement by the State Government on the reservation of the posts.
However, the election is unlikely to be a smooth affair for any political party as the 65-member MCC is a divided house with BJP having 22 seats, Congress 20 seats and JD(S) 17. One BSP member and five independents make up the rest of the MCC Council.
Former Minister and JD(S) leader S.R. Mahesh, however, expressed confidence that his party will secure the post of Mayor this time. But, he did not reveal which party’s support the JD(S) will seek.
After Mr. Mahesh’s claim, the Congress was quick to suspect the JD(S) of having a truck with the BJP for the Mayoral polls. In view of the hung nature of the MCC, Mysuru City Congress President R. Murthy said the JD(S) candidate will not become the Mayor without the support of either the Congress or the BJP. “They have not approached the Congress. So, they may have spoken to the BJP”, he said while making it clear that it was only his hunch.
Though the JD(S) leaders had not approached the Congress so far, Mr. Murthy said the party will be firm on its demand for the post of Mayor this time if the JD(S) leaders knocked on its doors and sought to stitch the broken alliance in the MCC
Meanwhile, BJP spokesperson in Mysuru M.A. Mohan said the party will not only contest the elections, but also retain the post of Mayor for the next term also.
The party had secured the coveted post for first time when its candidate Sunanda Palanetra was elected during mid-term polls held on September 25 last year after her predecessor Rukmini Made Gowda from the JD(S) was disqualified from the membership of MCC. The six-month tenure of Ms. Sunanda Palanetra is expected to end on February 24.
Though the Congress and JD(S) had entered into an understanding after the 2018 MCC polls, the alliance collapsed last year, paving the way for the BJP to win the post of Mayor. While Congress party’s Pushpalatha Jagannath was the Mayor in the first term, JD(S) member Tasneem was the Mayor in the second term. The third term was shared by Ms. Rukmini Made Gowda and Ms. Sunanda Palanetra.
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