Mangalore: 7 months since election - No mayor, no development

Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore

Mangalore, Sep 22: It has been nearly seven months since the Congress romped home to victory in the Urban Local Body (ULB) elections held in March and returned to treasury benches in Mangalore City Corporation (MCC) council. The ULB election win gave the Congress the kind of push it needed, to once again trounce the BJP in the assembly elections that followed the ULB elections. But the euphoria of Congress win in the ULB elections in Mangalore City Corporation quickly evaporated as the council has not been formed. There is frustration both among the elected corporators and the general public who feel let down. Some of the first-time Corporators have lost their rapture not knowing how to handle the period of uncertainty or how to answer the people that elected them.

The public, who gave the mandate to the Congress after a gap of five years and handed over the reins of the City Corporation from BJP, are a disillusioned lot today. They feel that the Congress has failed to take up the challenge of providing good governance at the local level. A number of political, personal, caste and religious issues topped by the greediness for power have prevented the government from taking a quick decision to come out with a reservation list which could have helped corporators from assuming office. With that the development process would have moved on.

Due to the present imbroglio even after seven months of coming to power, there is no elected body at MCC and the developmental programmes are in a total disarray. The elected Corporators have not taken oath after winning and the issue of reservation of Mayor’s post seems to the epicenter of the present logjam facing the Congress party which has won majority in the MCC. For the last one year the responsibility of running the administration has been shouldered by the deputy commissioner and the officials of the city corporation.

What caused delay

First there was a delay of nearly six months as the newly elected government in the state took its own sweet time to come out with the announcement of the reservation quota list. Finally, the list came out announcing the reservation to a woman candidate under the general category last month. Subsequently, Congress was to hold Mayoral elections on September 12, 2013. In the meantime, JD(S) Corporator Aziz Kudroli brought a stay order from the High Court for the election of Mayor and Deputy Mayor, which further delayed Mayoral elections. It also means the elected corporators will not be able to assume office or hold the council till the court verdict. Aziz Kudroli had filed a writ petition challenging the government’s decision to reserve the Mayoral post of MCC to a woman candidate for the fourth time (including the latest list) in the last six years.

Jacintha Alfred, one of the senior Corporators of the Congress Party and whose name was under circulation for mayor’s post, says government is seized of the matter and will come out with a befitting solution. She says she had not aspired or lobbed for Mayor’s post and hence she does not want to comment of Aziz Kudroli’s stay order as she did not aspire for it. She refused to comment on the stay order for the mayoral election but stated that she felt sad to see the developmental work of the city corporation coming to a standstill since last January.

Hidden agenda?

There are eight Municipal Corporations in Karnataka. But none of them had Mayor’s post reserved for women like they had it in Mangalore. In Gulbarga Municiapal Corporation in the last eight years no seat is reserved for women and in Bellary in the last five years Mayor’s seat is not reserved for women. It is said that there are a few agents, some engineers and contractors and a few politicians who lobby hard for ensuring Mayor’s seat for women in MCC with an axe to grind.

Mangalore City Corporation therefore has become the favourite hunting ground for all these people involved to install a rubber stamp mayor and get things done. Needless to say they feel they can manipulate women easily and hence they work overtime to that the Mayor’s seat is reserved for women. It seems there was a strong lobby this year also resulting in delay in the government coming out with the reservation and they almost succeeded until Aziz Kudroli frustrated their moves.

Aziz strikes a decisive blow

After the announcement of the government reservation list the Congress was getting ready for Mayoral elections and its members had zeroed in on 4-time corporator from Milagres Jacintha Vijaya Alfred for the post of Mayor. Another candidate Appy’s name was also under consideration but she may get another opportunity if the posts are reserved for SC/ST’s and so her name was not considered. Corporator Pratibha Kulal from Surathkal was also considered capable for the post and her name was also under consideration. But finally the party members had decided to elect Jacintha Alfred considering her seniority.

In the meantime, there were rumours agog both within the Congress and outside that Aziz is financially supported by a senior Congress Corporator belonging to the same party as Jacintha, fearing that Jacintha’s elevation would obstruct his chances of donning the Mayor’s post in the current period of Congress tenure.

All these rumors are in circulation in hushed tones as none want to name the person and face his wrath. These rumours gained credence because it is argued that Aziz Kudroli (with only two seats of JD(S) ) will has no stake in the post of the Mayor and hence his going to the court will not help. In this backdrop many in the Congress circles believe that the Congress Corporator is behind Aziz’s decision to go to the court. In a meeting held soon after, District in-charge minister Ramanatha Rai even had said that the corporator who had opted to oppose the party decision should be ‘treated with footwear’.

Aziz Kudroli says he is neither an aspirant (he cannot) for the Mayor’s post nor is he inclined to play spoilsport. But he says he is fighting against the injustice with regard to roster system adopted by the government which is wrong. “In the last six years it is the fourth time (including the present) the Mayoral post is reserved for a woman in MCC, which is in violation of the rotation system. So I have pointed out the mistakes of the government”, Aziz declares. He denied the rumours of Congress corporator supporting him saying “the Congress is adept in finding a scapegoat for its own follies”.

According to Congress sources there is a move within the Congress seeking cancellation of the stay given to him. But Aziz and his supporters are planning to give a representation to counter this move.

Aziz has a supporter in BJP Corporator from Kambla ward Naveenchandra who says that Aziz did the right thing in going to the court on this issue. “The court gives the stay only if there is a merit in the petition. If Aziz has succeeded in getting the stay it means his complaint has some merit”, Naveenchandra asserts. There have been instances earlier where people had camped in Bangalore to lobby hard to change the roster system. There are enough examples in MCC alone in the recent past where people had manipulated with the roster system. If unchecked this kind of scheming would prove detrimental for the people of Mangalore, Naveenchandra asserts.

Development process stalled

The present problem should be viewed with a wider perspective. It is not that Congress party alone is in a dilemma due to the current chaos. This uncertainty and delay is a matter of great concern to the people of Mangalore because in the absence of an elected body the developmental trajectory of the city has come to a grinding halt. While some corporators are vocal about having a tough time as they could not initiate any developmental work, a few others are adopting a belligerent attitude as if there isn’t much change in the developmental process in the absence of an elected body.

Jacintha Alfred says it is difficult especially for women corporators as they face lot of harassment from the public as they could not initiate developmental work. Deepak Poojary, Corporator from Kavoor, says that he has been able to get the work done in his ward by giving representation to the DC’s office. First time corportor Radhakrishna of Urva ward says the present imbroglio has been a big setback for undertaking any work in the ward. “If there is council, decisions can be taken quickly so that the development work initiated can become a reality”.

Mangalore MLA J R Lobo says, “Though development work is not going at the rate with which we had expected, the work of the corporation will go on unhindered even if the council is not functioning. Grants will keep coming for the development work related to the corporation. The only difference is that people’s representatives will not be there and hence execution will not be that easy”.

It may be a few more months before the High Court to takes up the matter to deliver its judgment. Once the matter is cleared it may take another year or so for new corporators to assume office, put their act together, get grant sanctioned and work done, which may taken another year. So in a way the real process of development will begin in another 12 to 14 months which means that the city Corporation’s work will not progress for another 1½ year. This way out of the five year term given to the Congress more than 2 years will have gone wasted without undertaking any developmental work.

Now the rainy season has come to an end and work related to road repair etc., should start. But there are loads of pending files which await sanction of the council. With bills pending for so long it is even difficult to find contractors to undertake the work. In the issue of petty politics it is the people who are suffering the most. One only hopes the court will settle the issue soon and Congress stalwarts will be able to find a quick way out from the muddle it finds itself in.