The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the mayor and deputy mayor posts in the Belagavi City Corporation election on Monday after the Opposition Congress and independent candidates refused to contest.
Shobha Somanache, representing ward number 57, and Roopa Patil, from ward number 33, were elected mayor and deputy mayor, respectively, and Congress’ Rajashekhar Doni was named the leader of the Opposition.
Shobha and Roopa are the first mayor and deputy mayor of the BJP, as it was the first time since the reorganisation of the states that the polls were held on party lines. All earlier elections in Belagavi City Corporation were held based on language.
As both are Marathi-speaking candidates, the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike expressed disappointment with the BJP for choosing them. “We had appealed to Belagavi South and North MLAs Abhay Patil and Anil Benake, respectively, to consider the Kannada-speaking people for the posts. However, unfortunately, the saffron party did not consider our request,” Vedike district president Deepak Gudaganatti said.
After being elected, Shobha, the 21st mayor of the town, told reporters in Kannada that she was the ‘Pradhan Sevika’ of Belagavi and would give priority to providing a comfortable life to the citizens of Belagavi.
“I’ll try my best to provide basic facilities to the people and to upgrade the standard of the town to the level of metro cities,” she said.
BJP has 35 members in the 58-member body while Congress has 10, Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) has 2, Hyderabad MP Assadduin Owasi’s AIMIM 1 and 10 candidates won as independents. The election to the corporation was held on September 3, 2021, and the mayoral poll was delayed as a few had approached the court questioning the revised ward formation and reservation to the wards.
Congress, which skipped the election, made it easy for the BJP to win the elections. Eight members from Congress had arrived at the election, but none contested the polls.
Vaani Vilas Joshi representing ward number 50 in the Belagavi South constituency, and Sarika Patil from ward number 50 were the front-runners in the mayor post till the core committee meeting of BJP held on Sunday evening. Though the candidates were finalised in the meeting, both Vaani and Sarika had filed their candidature as the party did not want to take a risk with the rejection of the applications of official candidates.
Opposition members Suhail Sangolli, Khurshid Mulla and Zareena Khan protested outside the closed door of the council where the mayoral polls were held as they were not allowed inside for late arrival. “We arrived at the corporation on time, but the police at the main entrance gate delayed over checking process,” member Sangolli said.
Congress City Block president Asif (Raju) Saith said the party skipped the mayoral polls over its lack of strength. “We didn’t contest the election to avoid embarrassment over defeat which could have an effect on the ensuing general elections to the state assembly,” Saith, who is expected to be the party ticket for the Belagavi North constituency, said.
MES city block president Shubham Shelke said the organisation though in the Opposition, MES will not change its stand against Karnataka and demand the documentation and the agenda of the general body meetings in Marathi. “The organisation has already started the groundwork for upcoming elections in the state. The organisation has about 3,000 votes in purely Kannada taluk Ramdurg in the last by-polls to Lokasabha. We are not discouraged with our performance incorporation election,” Shelke, who unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha by-election against BJP MP Mangala Angadi, said.
BJP South MLA Abhay Patil, the man handling the mayoral polls, said the party made Marathi-speaking people as mayor, and deputy mayor with no political equations, and Kannada members will be given chance in the next term.
Meanwhile, the corporators of the pro-Maharashtrian organisation Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) shouted an anti-state slogan on the premises of the Belagavi City Corporation on Monday.
Two samiti corporators – Ravi Salunkhe and Vaishali Bhatkhande – and Ravi Mandilkar won as independent candidates joined samiti wore saffron colour turbines and shouted the pro-Maharashtrian traditional slogan “Belgoan, Khanapur, Nippani, Karwar, Bidar, Balki samyukta Maharashtra jaalich paayije (These places in Karnataka must be included in Maharashtra).”
Elected in Sept 2021 who took oath as corporators on Monday, the samiti members kneeled on the steps of the administration office where they have council auditorium and entered the office. Speaking to news persons, they said they would continue their former member’s principle demanding the merger of disputed places in Karnataka into Maharashtra in the first council body meeting of the corporation. “The MES has a practice of demanding the merger of Marathi-dominated places in Karnataka into Maharashtra in the first ever council meeting since the existence of the corporation, which we continue in the first meeting expected to be announced this week,” Ravi Salunkhe said.
