Mayor Deputy Mayor elected for Mangaluru City Corpn

Mangaluru (Karnataka) Sep 19 (PTI) The Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) has elected Manoj Kumar, representing the Derebail Ward, as the new Mayor and Banumathi from the Bolar Ward as Deputy Mayor.
    The elections were held on Thursday and Kumar's election as Mayor was uncontested, as the position was reserved for a Scheduled Caste candidate.
    Kumar, the only candidate to file his nomination, represented the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Congress party did not field any candidates for the mayoral position as it lacked eligible members.
    Regional Commissioner Ramesh officially declared Kumar as the Mayor.
    For the post of Deputy Mayor, three candidates initially entered the race: Congress's Zeenat Shamshuddin, and BJP's Bhanumathi PS and Vanita Prasad.
    Although all nominations were valid, Vanita Prasad later withdrew her candidacy.
    In the final vote, Bhanumathi secured 47 votes from BJP members, while Zeenat Shamshuddin garnered support from 14 Congress members. One Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) member abstained from voting.
    Bhanumathi was elected as Deputy Mayor.
    The new leadership is expected to steer MCC's administration for the upcoming term with a focus on enhancing civic services and local development.
    The new mayor and his deputy will be in power only for the next six months as the council's tenure will come to an end in March, 2025.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)