Mysuru: With the Model Code of Conduct for Hunsur by-election coming into effect from tomorrow, the  election of the new city Mayor may be delayed by over a month as the Government is yet to announce the reservation roster for the Mayoral polls.

The tenure of the current Mayor Pushpalatha Jagannath and Deputy Mayor Shafi Ahmed is set to end on Nov.17 and the Model Code of Conduct that will come into effect from tomorrow with the announcement of the notification for the Dec. 5 Hunsur by-poll along with the by-polls to fourteen other Assembly segments to be made on Nov.11, is certainly going to delay the Mayoral election.

The Government may announce the reservation roster only after the Code of Conduct ends a couple of days after the counting of votes of Assembly by-polls  takes place on Dec. 9.

The delay in the Mayoral poll will enable the current Mayor to continue as Acting Mayor till a new Mayor is elected. But the Acting Mayor will not have the power to hold any official meetings and as such, the developmental works under taken by the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) will be severely affected.

However, the Acting Mayor can forward the grievances of the people and direct the MCC Commissioner to take suitable action on them. The Acting Mayor cannot instruct the Commissioner to take up new works. 

In the absence of a regular Mayor, the MCC Commissioner will have more powers. There are many instances in the past when the incumbent Mayor continues to function as Acting Mayor atleast for a fortnight after his/her tenure had ended. 

Incumbent Mayor Pushpalatha Jagannath is from the Congress, while her deputy Shafi Ahmed is from the JD(S).The MCC is ruled by the Congress-JD(S) coalition. 

In the last year’s Corporation polls, no single party gained majority in the 65-member MCC, following which the Congress and JD(S) formed an alliance to gain control of the important civic body  in order to keep the BJP, which emerged as the single largest party.

With the Mayoral polls almost certain to be delayed due to the Assembly by-polls’ Model Code of Conduct, political activities to elect a new Mayor is yet to gain momentum, as all the three major political parties — Congress, JD(S) and BJP,are playing the cards close to their chest.