Government yet to announce reservation matrix for election

Mysuru:  With the tenure of the incumbent Mayor Pushpalatha Jagannath and Deputy Mayor Shafi Ahmed  set to end on Nov. 17, the Government is yet to announce a new reservation matrix for the election of new Mayor and Deputy Mayor.

With no single party getting an absolute majority on it’s own in the 65-member MCC, the Congress and JD(S) entered into a coalition post the polls held in August last year ,following which Pushpalatha became the Mayor and Shafi Ahmed  her Deputy, in the Mayoral polls held on Nov.17,2018. With the tenure of the incumbent Mayor and the Deputy Mayor ending in another 20 days, the MCC Council Secretary has written to the Secretary of the Urban Development and Municipal Administration Department  seeking to announce the reservation matrix for the election of a new Mayor and Deputy Mayor for the second term of the five year tenure of the MCC’s governing body. 

After  the government announces the reservation matrix, the Mysuru Regional Commissioner will announce the poll schedule.

The last time, the government had reserved the Mayor’s post to woman (general) and the Deputy Mayor’s post to Minority community and as a result Pushpalatha Jagannath of the Congress  was elected as Mayor and Shafi Ahmed of the JD(S), the Deputy Mayor.

Now with the BJP Government in the State, City BJP leaders are working behind the scenes to get the reservation matrix that best suits the party, although the party does not have the required numbers to come to power on it’s own in the MCC. However, with the Mayoral polls round the corner,  it is not known whether the ruling Congress-JD(S) combine will continue with the alliance or not.

This year, it is expected that the government may reserve the Mayor’s post to ST category, with only Bharathi from the community occupying the post  in 2006. 

Hectic political activities will begin once the government announces the reservation matrix, with all the three major parties — Congress, JD(S) and BJP, working out strategies to occupy the chair of the first citizen of the city.