KALABURAGI: The mayoral election of the Kalaburagi Mahanagara Palike (KMP), which had generated much heat, is now scheduled to be held on February 5 after much delay. According to a notification issued by Kalaburagi Regional Commissioner N V Prasad, who is also the election officer, nominations for election to the posts of Mayor, Deputy Mayor and chairpersons of four standing committees can be submitted up to 10.30 am on February 5. After the attendance of members is verified, the election process will commence at 12.30 pm.
While the stage is set for the conduct of the election, the Congress is planning to approach the high court over inclusion of five BJP MLCs in the list of eligible voters. The election to the KMP Council was held on September 3 last year and the results were announced on September 6. It was earlier decided to hold elections to the mayoral posts on November 20, but it was postponed in view of the biennial Legislative Council polls.
In the September election, the Congress won 27 seats in the Council of 55 members, the BJP won 23 seats and later another independent joined the BJP, taking its strength to 24. The JDS had won four seats. In October, the KMP announced the list of eligible voters for the mayoral poll which included six BJP MLAs, MLCs, and MP, two Congress leaders including Rajya Sabha member Mallikarjun Kharge and Kalaburagi-North MLA Kaneez Fatima, along with the 55 elected corporators.
A party needs to secure 32 votes to secure the mayor’s post. While the BJP was short of four votes, the Congress was short of three votes. The JDS wanted to play kingmaker and announced that it will support the party which will give it the mayor’s post. But neither the Congress nor the BJP were ready. While the Congress kept insisting that the JDS will support it, the BJP had maintained that the mayor will be its side, but did not spell out its strategy.
In the first week of November, seven MLCs including Laxman Savadi, Sayabanna Talawar, Bharati Shetty, Lehar Singh, Pratap Singh, Raghunath Malkapure and Muniraju of the BJP applied for inclusion of their names in the voters’ list in Kalaburagi City to be eligible to vote in the mayoral election. The Congress approached the Kalaburagi Bench of the Karnataka High Court challenging their application, followning which the court issued notice to them.
But, a few weeks ago, the Kalaburagi Assistant Commissioner, who is the competent authority, included the names of five BJP MLCs — Muniraju, Laxman Savadi, Bharati Shetty, Raghunath Rao Malkapure and Lehar Singh in the voters’ list while rejecting the applications of Pratap Singh and Sayabanna Talwar. With this, the BJP now has five more votes which can see it through in the mayoral poll.
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson Dr Sharanprakash Patil said the party will approach the High Court on Monday seeking a stay on the mayoral election.