The five-year term of the Mangalore City Corporation Council, where the Bharatiya Janata Party is in a majority, will end on February 20. Later, an administrator will take over the reins of the civic body till the formation of the next council after elections.
The corporation on Monday sent a letter to the Deputy Commissioner of Dakshina Kannada N. Prakash about the end of the term of the council, sources told The Hindu.
The next council would be the sixth elected council after the erstwhile Mangalore city municipality was upgraded to corporation in 1983 and M. Sadashiva Bhandary took charge as the first Mayor of Mangalore on January 6, 1984.
The BJP sat in the treasury benches of the corporation for the first time by ending the two-decade control of the Congress in the civic body. Ganesh Hosabettu took charge as the first Mayor from the BJP on February 21, 2008. In the elections, conducted for 60 seats, in the fifth council on September 28, 2007, the BJP won in 34 wards and the Congress in 20 wards.
The Janata Dal (Secular) and the Communist Party of India Marxists (CPI-M)) bagged one seat each. Independent candidates won four seats. Later, Santhosh, a Congress rebel who won from Panambur Bengre ward (no. 11) as an independent, joined the BJP taking its tally to 35.
The Congress won the by-election conducted for the Thiruvail ward in 2011, following the resignation of the Independent councillor representing the ward, adding to its strength of 20 seats.
The BJP faced an embarrassment when Gulzaar Banu of the Congress was elected the Mayor in the Mayoral elections on March 7, 2012.
Although the BJP had an absolute majority in the Council, it could not get its candidate elected as Mayor.
Budget presentation today
The budget of Mangalore City Corporation for 2013-14 will be resented on February 14. If the Election Commission announces election to the urban local bodies in the State before Thursday, the presentation of the Budget may be put off. Premananda Shetty, whip in council, told The Hindu that the council would have to meet again on or before February 20 to ratify the Budget. Date for next meeting had not been fixed.
