Mahabala Marla and Kavitha of the Congress were elected Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Mangalore, respectively, on Thursday.
Mr. Marla, 51, represents Kadri Padavu ward (no. 22) and first-timer Ms. Kavitha, 39, represents Hoigebazar ward (no. 57) in the council. Their term will expire on March 12, 2015.
Mr. Marla had been elected to the council from the Congress in 1997, 2002 and 2013. He lost the election in 2007.
In the mayoral election, they defeated the BJP candidates by 37-20 votes. The Opposition BJP in the council had fielded Tilakraj from Katipalla Krishnapura ward (no. 4) and Poornima from Central Market ward (no. 41) for the posts of Mayor and Deputy Mayor, respectively.
In the 60-member council, the Congress has 35 seats, followed by the BJP with 20 seats, the Janata Dal (Secular) with two seats, and the Communist Party of India (Marxists), the Social Democratic Party of India have one seat each; the council also has an independent councillor.
Including the two votes of MLAs J.R. Lobo and B.A. Mohiuddin Bava and 35 votes of the councillors, the Congress candidates got 37 votes. The BJP candidates got votes of only their party councillors. The others did not vote.
The post of Mayor was reserved for a general category candidate and that of Deputy Mayor for a general category woman candidate.
Members of four standing committees of the council were elected unanimously. Each committee has seven members. In that, the Congress has five members, leaving two to the BJP in each committee.
The Regional Commissioner, Mysore M.V. Jayanthi, who conducted the election, said that the election of Mayor, Deputy Mayor and members of four standing committees were subject to the final verdict of Karnataka High Court in a case Earlier, the court in an interim order on February 24, 2014, allowed urban local bodies in the State to go ahead with the election of Mayors, Deputy Mayors and presidents and vice-presidents.
All the 60 councillors took oath on Thursday. With this, the council has come into being after a gap of one year from the date of election.
