MCC’s term ends in Feb 2025, Uncertainty looms over upcoming elections

Team Udayavani, Oct 17, 2024, 5:14 PM IST

The current term of the Mangalore City Corporation is set to conclude on February 27, 2025. As per the schedule, elections should be held before this date. However, a crucial hurdle remains—the reservation of wards needs to be restructured before the election can proceed. If this process is completed on time, the elections will be held as scheduled. However, the uncertainty has left several prominent corporators anxious about whether they will retain their wards or lose them due to changes in ward reservations.

According to election rules, ward boundaries are to be restructured every 10 years, but since the ward delimitation was done in 2019, there will be no changes in boundaries this time. However, the reservation of wards must be reclassified every five years, leading to speculation and anxiety among sitting corporators. The current reclassification has sparked interest among both sitting members and ticket aspirants, as it is unclear who will be eligible to contest in their current wards once the reservations shift.

Reservation for Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) is based on the 2011 census. There is a possibility that reservations currently assigned to certain wards could be shifted to other wards, potentially displacing sitting corporators from their constituencies. Additionally, other forms of reservation, such as those for women or backward classes, could also see changes depending on government priorities, adding to the uncertainty.

The 50% reservation for women, which was introduced in the previous election, will continue. However, the wards reserved for women may change this time. Though the 50% reservation for women was initially announced in 2013, legal challenges delayed its implementation, and the 2019 elections were held with only a 33% reservation for women. In that election, 22 women were elected.

The 2019 ward reservation changes had caused dissatisfaction among several corporators. Out of the 60-member body, only about half were able to contest in their previous constituencies, while new candidates were introduced in the remaining wards. This led to frustration among senior members, sparking protests and discontent. Anticipating such a reaction, the Congress party released its list of candidates at the last minute, just a day before the filing of nominations. Similar discontent was seen in the BJP as well, with ticket-denied members expressing their anger.

In the 2019 election, the BJP secured a majority with 44 seats, followed by the Congress with 14 seats, and the SDPI with 2 seats. In 2013, the Congress had won 35 seats, the BJP 20, the JD(S) 2, while CPM, SDPI, and independents won one seat each.

According to the law, the rules for reservation need to be published initially, based on which reservations are set. However, in practice, this has not been consistently followed, leading to delays in changing the reservations for certain wards in Mangalore. Some wards designated as “general” have not seen changes in years.

In the 2013 elections, held on March 7, the Mangalore City Corporation had its next scheduled election on March 7, 2019. However, the election was delayed as some individuals challenged the reservation process in court.

In August 2019, the Karnataka High Court directed the State Election Commission to resolve the reservation dispute and complete the election by October 31, 2019. It further instructed the new administration to be established by November 15, 2019. In this context, a review petition related to the reservation process was dismissed by the High Court on October 11, 2019, allowing the election to proceed with voting on November 12.

The last election for the Mangalore City Corporation was held on November 12, 2019, with the new mayor assuming office on February 27, 2020, after delays in the mayoral reservation process. As a result, the current five-year term will end on February 27, 2025.

However, with no steps taken yet to update voter lists, reassign polling booths, or carry out other necessary pre-election procedures, doubts remain about whether the elections will be held on time.

Municipal corporations in Mysore, Tumkur, and Shimoga have already exceeded their five-year terms by a year, while the term for BBMP (Bangalore) is nearing three years without an election. With the terms of the Mangalore and Davangere corporations set to end in February, it remains to be seen if elections will be held on time in these cities.