Pushpalatha Jagannath is the new mayor

MYSURU: Former deputy mayor, Congress member Pushpalatha Jagannath has been elected as the 21st mayor of the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC).
Pushpalatha, a second-time corporator from ward no.11, defeated BJP candidate Sunanada Phalanetra (ward no. 59) by 48-24 votes. Shafi Ahmed of JD(S) from ward no. 31, defeated BJP’s M Satish in the election for the deputy mayor’s post.

The election for the mayor, deputy mayor, and members of various standing committees was held on Saturday. As per the agreement reached between the JD(S) and Congress hours before the election, Congress nominee Pushpalatha Jagannath filed nomination papers for the mayor’s post, while Shafi Ahmed filed papers for the deputy mayor’s post. Interestingly, there was no coordination between the JD(S) and Congress while submitting the nomination papers. JD(S) candidate Shafi Ahmed submitted his papers first and Pushpalatha later. BJP candidates Sunanda and Satish submitted their nomination papers together.

JD(S) announced Shafi Ahmed’s candidature on Friday night, while KPCC observer for the MCC election Krishna Byregowda announced Pushpalatha’s name on Saturday morning. After holding a meeting with party’s city unit leaders, he left for Bengaluru without waiting for polling.

As the alliance was cemented after consensus, there was no last minute drama. After all the members took oath as members, regional commissioner V Yesvant conducted the election. The Congress-JDS nominees won the election with a huge margin. Independent corporator M V Ramaprasad, however, remained neutral.

Pushpalatha, a law graduate, was an independent corporator between 2008-13 and joined Congress later. In 2010-11, she served as deputy mayor.

Speaking to reporters after being elected as mayor, Pushpalatha Jagannath attributed her election to former chief minister Siddaramaiah. “I thank all the leaders, including KPCC president Dinesh Gundurao, and JD(S) leaders,” she said.

Clean Mysuru a priority

“Mysuru is known for cleanliness. I want to work hard towards retaining this glory. As mayor, I will launch several new initiatives to regain the no 1 position in the country,” she said.

She also promised to work towards improving the infrastructure. “When Siddaramaiah was the chief minister, the state government sanctioned many projects. Many of these projects are yet to be completed. I will give priority to complete these projects,” she said.

LLB course in 2012

After completing her term as the deputy mayor, Pushpalatha enrolled for an LLB course in 2012. “She was 37 years old at that time. She joined the law course with an idea of learning the legal system as it is very much required for a people’s representative to understand laws,” said Jagannath, her husband, who is a businessman and a resident of Alanahalli.