Kavita Sanil from the Congress may become the new Mayor of Mangaluru for the next one-year term.
The election for the offices of the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor will be conducted at 11.30 a.m. on Thursday.
As there were three front runners for the office of Mayor from the ruling Congress, the party leaders and the party’s election observers chose to conduct an internal voting late on Wednesday to select its Mayoral candidate.
In the 60-member elected council, the Congress enjoyed majority with 35 votes.
Sources in the Congress said that in the internal election of the party, Ms. Sanil from Pachchanady ward, who is now the chairperson of the Standing Committee for Public Health, Education and Social Justice, secured 17 votes. Another aspirant Prathiba Kulai from Hosabettu ward, who is a first-time councillor, secured 16 votes.
The third aspirant S. Appi, who is now the chairperson of the Standing Committee for Taxation, Finance and Appeals, got one vote. Another vote became invalid as, according to sources, the voter (a councillor) had written “high command” on the voter slip.
Ms. Sanil is a second-time councillor. She was the chairperson of the Standing Committee for Town Planning and Improvement in the same council about a decade ago.
The Congress leaders were forced to conduct an internal election as the councillors did not arrive at a consensus on selecting the Mayoral candidate. The councillors pressed for the internal voting, the sources said.
Sources said that the Congress leaders felt that as the State would go to the Assembly polls next year, the performance of the new Mayor might be a deciding factor to some extent for securing votes for the party in the corporation jurisdiction. Hence, the top leaders were also in favour of fielding a senior councillor.
