Mysuru: With the term of the present Mysuru Mayor M.J. Ravikumar having expired on Dec.6, the State Government is likely to announce the reservation for the Mayoral polls later this evening.

The JD(S) and the BJP combine had ruled the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) for the first four terms after the Civic Body election was held in 2013.

Now the Congress, which is ruling the State, is set to take advantage by reserving the Mayor’s post for SC (Woman) candidate as neither the JD(S) nor the BJP have this category candidate to contest the  Mayoral polls.

Although the Congress emerged as the single largest party in the 2013 MCC election, the JD(S) aligned with the BJP to win the Mayoral polls for the first four one-year term. Now, the Congress, eager to win the Mayor’s post for the last term, is looking at all possibilities of grabbing the important post by announcing the reservation to its advantage, it is learnt.

The post of the Mayor of the second largest city in the State seems to have become a prestige issue for the ruling Congress Government as Mysuru is also the home district of Chief Minister Siddharamaiah.

Although the Congress made attempts to align with the JD(S) in the past four terms to get the Mayor’s post, all these attempts became unfruitful, with the JD(S), the second largest party in the MCC, aligning with the BJP. While the JD(S) held the Mayor’s post, the BJP had to remain satisfied with the Deputy Mayor’s post in the 65-member Civic Body.

Hectic political activities have been going on in the past couple of days, with speculations that the State Government may announce the reservation for the posts of Mayor and Deputy Mayor today.