Three-time councillor K. Bhaskar Moily of the Congress was elected Mayor of Mangaluru on Thursday.
Mohammed Kunjathabail, also of the Congress, was elected Deputy Mayor in the elections conducted by Mysuru Regional Commissioner Shivayogi C. Kalasad at Mangaluru City Corporation’s Council Hall here.
Members
The Congress has 35 members in the 60-member MCC Council while the opposition BJP has 20 members, followed by two from the JD (S), one each from the CPI (M) and the Social Democratic Party of India, and an independent.
Besides the councillors, two Congress MLAs from Mangaluru North and South, one Congress MLC, one MP and MLC from the BJP too were voters.
While all Congress councillors were present at the meeting, one BJP councillor did not attend as his mother was unwell.
Congress MLA J.R. Lobo and MLC Ivan D’Souza were present while another Congress MLA B.A. Mohiuddin Bava, BJP MP Nalin Kumar Kateel and MLC Ganesh Karnik were absent.
Mr. Moily, representing Ward 36 and Mr. Kunjathabail, representing Ward 13, polled 37 votes while BJP’s candidates for the Mayor and Deputy Mayor posts, Surendra Shetty and Meera Karkera, got 19 votes each.
The returning officer also announced the constitution of four standing committees of the Council that comprise seven members each. Five Congress and two BJP councillors were chosen unopposed for each committee.
District in-charge Minister B. Ramanath Rai and other senior Congress leaders in the district had been under pressure as 2018-19 is the last year of the Council’s term.
While Mr. Moily, with his long stint of 33 years in public life, had backing from senior leaders, including former Chief Minister M. Veerappa Moily and Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy, several Muslim leaders brought pressure on the leadership to select Abdul Rauf to the post.
Muslim leaders had argued that many communities were given representation in the previous years and hence it was time for a Muslim candidate.
During the meetings called by Mr. Rai on Wednesday and Thursday, there was no consensus with the two factions reportedly sticking to their stand and the will of the party leadership prevailed finally.
