Casual BJP loses Mayor berth to Cong's Gulzar Banu

Mangalore, March 7: In a dramatic development, Congress corporator Gulzar Banu has been elected as the new Mayor of BJP dominated Mangalore City Corporation.

The unexpected development took place when the nomination papers filed by BJP candidate Roopa D Bangera was rejected by the returning officer.

The nomination of Ms Bangera was rejected as she had failed to submit her caste certificate, which is a requirement to verify her eligibility criteria, on time.

It is learnt that though M V Jayanti, divisional commissioner, Mysore, who was the returning officer granted additional ten minutes to set right the anomaly, Congress corporaters raised objections.

As Congress nominee Gulzar Banu, was the only remaining candidate in the in the fray, she was declared elected unopposed.

In the 60 strong MCC, BJP has 35 corporators, while Congress has only 21 corporators. CPM and JD(S) have one candidate each. The remaining two are independent corporators.

BJP's Amita Kala won the Deputy Mayor's berth defeating Appi of Congress with a margin of 14 votes. The term of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor is from 7-3-2012 to 20-2-2013.

Speaking to media persons after being elected as Mayor, Ms. Gulzar Banu said that providing 24 hours water supply will be her prime objective. “So far the issue of 24 hour water supply has not been addressed adequately. I will try and fulfill this need in the days to come”, she said.

Not surprisingly, she was more than happy after being elected as the city's Mayor. “It's a blessing from God and the support, prayers and blessings of the people of my Ward”, she said.

Responding to a query on how she would handle the affairs of the city with BJP actually being the ruling party, she said “Now we (Congress) are the rulers”.

Ms. Gulzar who represents Ward 5 (Krishnapura-Katipalla) is a two-time Corporator. She has formerly been a part of the Accounts Standing Committee of the Corporation. She is married to Mr. Shamshuddin Shaikh and is a mother of 10 children.

Her counterpart, Ms. Roopa D Bangera of BJP was not available for comment.

Ms. Amita Kala of BJP, who was chosen Deputy Mayor, told mediapersons that it was unfortunate that her party Mayoral candidate missed out due to a lapse in document submission.

However, she added that irrespective of who becomes the Mayor, it is the development of the city that has to be the focus. “Although a Congress candidate has been chosen as Mayor, we will try to work together and concentrate on developing the city”, she said.

Ms. Amita Kala is a BA graduate and represents Derebail Ward. She is married to Mr. Taranath and has one daughter.

Speaking to mediapersons on the occasion, Shashidhar Hegde, former Mayor and Congress Corporator, said praised Ms. Gulzar's contributions to the party and society. “No matter what programme we hold, she gets herself involved in it completely. She is a dedicated social worker. This turn of events today is a blessing from God. We will look forward to take advantage of the opportunity that we have got and cooperate fully with the Mayor”, he said.

Ms. Mariamma Thomas, Independent Corporator, told mediapersons after the elections that the BJP has caused insult to itself. The BJP should have been prepared as they knew that caste permutations have a role in filing of nomination papers. It wasn't concerned and its casual attitude shows how lightly they take their administration. It shows they are not serious in their ruling, right from the bottom to the top. Perhaps, such a blunder has taken place for the first time in the history of the entire country,” Ms. Thomas said.

Meanwhile Mr. Harish, Independent Corporator, was of the opinion that as a deliberate move, no one in the BJP camp guided Ms. Bangera to go about the caste certificate procedure. “I don't call it an unexpected win. It was expected. The BJP Corporators did not want to support 'Lakota Sanskriti' of the High Command. It showed on their faces. Their silent faces said it all. I would like to congratulate them as well as the returning officer for the firm decision she took today”, he said.

Mr. Harish also said that now one of the issues to be addressed is of choosing the opposition leader. “Who is the opposition now? Both Congress and BJP are rulers! The four of us (1 candidate from JDS, 1 from CPM, and two independents) are now the actual opposition. We will demand that the leader of the opposition be chosen amongst us”, he said, with a broad smile on his face.

B Ramanath Rai, MLA and DK District Congress President, who visited the Corporation after the election process concluded, congratulated Ms. Gulzar for her victory.

Congress party workers celebrated their candidate's victory outside the Corporation.