The Hindu : Karnataka / Mysore News : Lobbying for Mayor's post intensifies in Mysore

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jun 17, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka - Mysore

Lobbying for Mayor's post intensifies in Mysore

Staff Correspondent

`Reserving the Mayor's post for a candidate from the Scheduled Castes will not be appropriate'

MYSORE: With the Mayor Dakshinamurthy's tenure at the helm of affairs in Mysore City Corporation scheduled to come to an end on June 30, lobbying for the post of the next Mayor has pitted hopefuls from the Scheduled Castes community in the ruling Congress against a lone woman from the Scheduled Tribes community.

Even as the Government has dropped broad hints that the coveted post will be reserved for a lady candidate from the Scheduled Tribes category this year, several activists of the Babuji Yuvakara Seva Sangha and the Dalit Rakshana Horata Mahasamiti staged a demonstration in front of the Congress party office on Sayyaji Rao Road on Thursday seeking the Mayor's post for Scheduled Castes.

As the agitation intensified, the activists proceeded to lock up the party office, forcing the police to intervene and take the protestors into custody. However, they were released later.

According to informed sources in the corporation, the Government had almost finalised the reservation of the post of Mayor for a woman candidate from the Scheduled Tribes category, which has not been represented so far, sources said. "Bharathi, a candidate belonging to the Medara community among the Scheduled Tribes, is the only person from the ruling Congress, who fits the bill. In all probability, she will don the Mayor's robes next," sources told The Hindu .

With Bangalore as well as Mangalore City Corporations having candidates from the Scheduled Castes category as Mayors and the High Court issuing directions to reserve the post of Mayor in Belgaum for a candidate belonging to the Scheduled Castes category, the Government is finding it inappropriate to have a candidate belonging to the same group even in the Mysore City Corporation.

When the leaders from the Scheduled Castes community met the Deputy Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah, in the city on Thursday, Mr. Siddaramaiah reportedly told them that reserving the Mayor's post in Mysore for a candidate from their community will not be appropriate, as four out of the six city corporations will have a Mayor belonging to the category.

With the Government firm on reserving the Mayor's post for a candidate from the Medara community, the odds appear to be strongly in favour of Ms. Bharathi, a Congress councillor from Medara Block in Chamaraja Assembly constituency. A law graduate, who appeared for IAS preliminary examination last month, she clearly appears to be leading the race for Mayor's post in Mysore.

Delay

Meanwhile, Mr. Dakshinamurthy hinted at the possibility of a delay in the Mayoral polls. Though his tenure is scheduled to come to an end on June 30, the Government notification on reservation of the Mayor's post has not been announced yet. With 16 days necessary between the Government notification and the Mayoral polls to draw up a calendar of events, the polls are likely to be held only in the first week of July.

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