Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)

Mangaluru, Oct 21: The state government has come out with reservation criteria for the next mayoral election, which is due in March 2016. As per the criteria, the post of the mayor will go to general category, and that of the deputy mayor, to a woman candidate from scheduled tribe.

Once the criteria is announced, rarely does it get changed, unless someone approaches court with genuine grievances and secures an order directing the government to change it. As of now, it looks like the post of deputy mayor will go to the main opposition, BJP, as Congress does not have a corporator who conforms to the above norm.

The term of present mayor, Jacinta Vijay Alfred, and her deputy, Purushotham Chitrapura, will end on March 12, 2016. Out of 60 city corporators, 35 belong to Congress, 20 to BJP, with the rest distributed among JDS, CPM, and SDPI.

Among Congress corporators, Lancylot Pinto, K Harinath, Bhaskar Moily, and Naveen D'Souza are leading aspirants for the post of the next mayor. As per the present analysis, the post of deputy mayor will go to Sumitra Kariya, BJP corporator representing Suratkal (east) ward. Unless dramatic turn of events occur during the remaining period of four months, Harinath and Sumitra may become the next city mayor and his deputy respectively.