Belagavi may soon be getting a Mayor six long months after the elections to the Belagavi City Corporation.
The Government is likely to hold the Mayoral polls in Belagavi after Parliament session ends on Saturday.
The reason is to allow Members of Parliament who have the power to vote, owing to their position in other legislative bodies, to exercise their right.
Government sources say that the polls may be held on a working day in the third week of February.
Apart from the three Members of Parliament, there are six MLAs and five MLCs who are eligible to vote. The BJP has a clear majority in the Belagavi City Corporation council. But still, these legislators are expected to vote, as this was the first election in many decades that was fought on party lines.
However, the numbers vary in Hubballi-Dharwad and Kalaburagi, where the BJP is a few seats short of a majority. In these urban local bodies, the legislators will definitely vote to add to the party’s strength, party sources say.
Officers say that another reason for the delay in holding Mayoral polls was a case that had been filed before the High Court of Karnataka against mayoral polls in Kalaburagi. The case has now been decided, clearing the way for the polls.
Belagavi city, the fourth largest urban agglomeration in the State, has gone without a Mayor for nearly six months after the election of council members in September 2021.
What is more, the body was not dissolved after the end of the last term in 2019 and it did not go to the polls for nearly two years, due to the delay in holding polls.
The councillors did not choose a Mayor and a Deputy Mayor nor they held meetings. But they voted in the Legislative Council polls, as the State Government issued an order enlisting them to be members of the Council Electoral College.
A non-functioning corporation council has affected civic administration, say some residents.
“In mid-January, we had no drinking water for 10 days. In the earlier days, we could approach the councillor who would resolve our issues. But this time, we had no one to go to, as the officers were running the corporation. We had a trying time,’’ says Kamalakshi Patil, a resident of Tilakwadi.
“Corporation officers have been lax in their duties. They do not clear garbage regularly in our area. I am tired of calling up the helpline,’’ said Manish Prabhu, a resident of Maratha Colony.
But these grievances may soon be addressed by an elected body. If there are no other problems, the election will be held between February 14 and 21, said another officer.
