The coalition government’s partners in alliance - Congress and JD(S) - have reached an agreement on power sharing in the Mysuru City Corporation council without bickerings to send positive signals and to present a united front to the electorate.
In the elections held on Saturday Pushpalatha Jagannath of the Congress defeated the BJP candidate Sunanda Palanetra, in what was a direct contest, to be elected as the new Mayor of Mysuru. She polled 48 votes while her opponent secured 24 votes in the elections in which the legislators too were eligible to exercise their franchise. JD(S) member Shafi Ahmed was elected Deputy Mayor, defeating Sathish of the BJP.
As per the agreement reached by the leaders of both parties, Congress candidates will be the mayor for the 1st and 3rd term while the JD(S) candidates will hold the post during the 2nd, 4th and 5th term, the tenure of each mayor being 1 year.
There were hectic parleying ahead of the elections held on Saturday but it was a smooth affair after the leaders arrived at a consensus late on Friday night. Earlier, the district in-charge Minister G.T. Deve Gowda said that the rank and file and local leaders were bound by the decision taken by the JD(S) top brass which, he said, was in the long-term interest of the party and to fight the BJP unitedly in the next Lok Sabha elections.
Though the BJP with 22 members is the single largest party in the 65-member council, the Congress with 19 members and the JD(S) with 18 members, cobbled up a working majority with support from the lone BSP member and 4 of the 5 independents.
