Protesters: Appoint a Dharwad corporator as the new mayor

Dharwad: A day after the date for the election to the posts of mayor and deputy mayor of the Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC) Council was announced, members of the Dharwad Separate Mahanagara Palike Agitation Committee have demanded that the top post in the urban local body be given to a corporator from Dharwad. The committee, which has been protesting the neglect of Dharwad by the authorities, believes that nominating a corporator from their city will go a long way in addressing the imbalance in the allocation of funds and resources for development.
Committee members Lalit Bhandari and Sukhad Joshi, reemphasised the poor treatment that Dharwad had received in allocation of funds and resources. Pointing out that a Dharwad corporator had not occupied the mayor’s post for the past eight years, they said, “Shivu Hiremath was nominated to the post in 2014, after which the mayor has always been from Hubballi. As a result, the mayor is disinclined towards attending to the problems of Dharwad residents.”
Bhandari said that, should a corporator from Dharwad bag the top post, he or she must acquaint oneself with the problems plaguing the people, and work towards solving them. Bhandari and Joshi also appealed to the HDMC to open a section at its Dharwad office for the registration of birth and death. “Right now, HDMC collects the applications for registration of birth and death, which are then sent to the office in Hubballi. It takes anywhere between 45 days and two months for us to get a copy of these certificates. In case of these certificates having any errors, they will have to be sent to Hubballi again,” they rued.
Joshi reiterated the committee’s commitment to continue its fight for a dedicated municipal body for Dharwad city.
“To that end, if the government continues to ignore our demand, we have decided to field two candidates in the next assembly election,” he said.