Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru (AB)
Mangaluru, Sep 19: Manoj Kumar from Derebail ward was elected as the mayor of Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) while Bhanumathi from Bolar ward was elected as the deputy mayor. The elections for the mayor, deputy mayor, and four standing committee members for the 25th term of the MCC was held on September 19 in the Mangala hall of the MCC.
Manoj Kumar was elected unopposed.
The mayor's position, reserved for candidates from the Scheduled Castes, saw only Manoj Kumar from the BJP filing his nomination. As the Congress party lacked any eligible Scheduled Caste members, no nominations were filed from their side. As a result, Manoj Kumar won the election unopposed, announced regional commissioner Ramesh, who served as the election officer.
For the position of deputy mayor, nominations were submitted by Congress candidate Zeenath Shamsuddin, and BJP candidates Bhanumathi P S and Vanitha Prasad. While all three nominations were deemed valid, Vanitha Prasad later withdrew her nomination.
In the election, 47 BJP members voted in favour of Bhanumathi, while 14 Congress members supported Zeenath Shamsuddin. One SDPI member abstained from voting. With the majority of votes, Bhanumathi was declared the winner and elected as the deputy mayor.
The Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) has a total of 60 elected members. Of these, 44 belong to the BJP, 14 to the Congress, and two to the SDPI. MP Capt Brijesh Chowta, Mangaluru South MLA Vedavyas Kamath, and Mangaluru North MLA Dr Y Bharath Shetty also participated in the voting process. MLCs Manjunath Bhandary and Ivan D'Souza, along with one SDPI member, were absent.
Additionally, four members of the standing committees were elected unopposed.