Sir,
‘Who will be our Mayor?’ This front page news headline in Star of Mysore dated Sept.4 made me to remember this pamphlet which I had picked up at my son’s residence during our recent visit to Canada.
Look, who elects the Mayor there? It is the people of that city. It is meaningful and right as the Mayor belongs to the whole people of the city as this candidate has explained in his campaign pamphlet. Though the election is in October, candidates start their campaign months earlier explaining so well why people should elect him.
I also came across another candidate meeting groups of people in a Lakeside Park on a weekend explaining his objectives and seeking their support.
In contrast, it need not be elaborated how things happen here. People cannot expect anything better from our one-year Mayor elected by the majority party.
– K. Vijaya Kumar, V.V. Mohalla, 5.9.2018
Note: Some years back there was a proposal made by NGOs and some politicians to have the Mayor elect directly by the people for a five-year term.
The reason was that the present one-year term of the Mayor does not give the Mayor the required time to complete the projects envisioned by him / her for the development of the city.
However, nobody took the idea forward because one-year term for a Mayor gives opportunity to all those greedy, ambitious politicians. For them the agenda is very personal, not the development of Mysuru city. – KBG, Editor-in-Chief
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The political structure of local elections in Canada is different from that of India. In the USA, state Governors. Equivalent to Chief minister, is directly elected by the people. In Karnataka, for example, people have no say in who is going to be the chief minster. It is all decided by party leaders in New Delhi!