Election of MCC Standing Committee heads postponed for fifth time in a row

Mysore/Mysuru: The polls to elect the Chairmen of Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) Standing Committees was postponed for the fifth time in the current Mayor’s term on Monday as the Mayor and BJP Corporators stayed away. The previous meeting, the fourth one scheduled on Feb. 2, too was postponed as the Mayor and BJP Corporators had abstained.

Following  a direction from Mayor Shivakumar, MCC Council Secretary Rangaswamy had issued notification on Mar. 4 for electing the heads of four Standing Committees — Planning, Accounts, Health and Finance, at 11 am on Mar. 13 (Monday). Accordingly, MCC Commissioner G. Lakshmikantha Reddy , Council Secretary Rangaswamy and Congress and JD(S) Corporators waited at the MCC Hall for the election process to begin.

But Mayor Shivakumar and BJP Corporators did not turn up which angered the opposition parties. As there were no signs of the Mayor and the ruling  BJP Corporators turning up, the MCC Commissioner and other officials left the Hall after 1 pm. But former Mayor Ayub Khan of the Congress, JD(S) Corporator Ashwini Ananthu and others waited for an extra half an hour anticipating that the Mayor and BJP Corporators would turn up. But that was not to be and everyone walked out of the Hall after 1.30 pm, venting out their anger against the attitude of the ruling BJP.

Ayub Khan said that the members to all the Standing Committees were selected on Sept. 9 last year. However, no polls have been held for electing the heads of the Standing Committees, which has taken a toll on the city’s developmental works.

Alleging that the BJP seems to have no interest for electing the heads of Standing Committees, he maintained that this has rendered injustice to city residents who want all ongoing works to be completed on time and rid them of inconvenience caused by unfinished works.

Accusing the BJP of subverting the democratic process, Ayub Khan argued that it is intriguing to note that election to the Standing Committees has not been held even after the current Mayor was elected seven months ago. The undue delay in the polls has stalled the development works for which the Mayor and the BJP are only to be blamed, he added.

Meanwhile, Mayor Shivakumar said that he could not attend the MCC meeting to elect the heads of Standing Committees as he was unwell. Speaking to Star of Mysore yesterday, Shivakumar said that he began feeling uneasy since yesterday morning, following which he visited a hospital for a health check-up.  Maintaining that his fellow BJP Corporators did not attend the meeting as he himself did not for health reasons, he admitted that though it is true that a notification was issued for the conduct of polls on Monday, his health did not permit him to take part in the electoral process.

Amidst this, sources said that with the Assembly polls just a few weeks away, the ruling BJP did not want to identify itself with JD(S) as most BJP leaders believed that going with JD(S) would send a wrong signal to voters.