Priority to drinking water, women empowerment: New mayor Jacintha Alfred
Pics: Dayanand Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (CLP/MD)
Updated
Mangaluru, Mar 12: Soon after being elected as the new mayor of Mangalore City Corporation, Jacintha Vijay Alfred said that she would give priority to issues related to drinking water, drainage system, women empowerment and housing in the city.
Addressing the media after the mayoral election on Thursday March 12, an elated Jacintha thanked the MCC members for choosing her as the mayor of Mangaluru, especially the two MLAs and MLC.
Jacintha with her husband Vijay
She also remembered the late Blasius D'Souza and said, "I am grateful to Blasius D'Souza for his support. I have been serving MCC for the last 15 years in various departments.
"I also thank Ramanath Rai, Mahabala Maarla, J R Lobo, Mohiuddin Bava and especially Ivan D'Souza for their support. Ivan D'Souza has been like a brother to me and supported me throughout my career."
On her plans for the city, she said, "As mayor, I will give priority to providing clean drinking water, solving issues related to drainage system, and focus on women empowerment and ease rules related to housing in the city. I will respond to the needs of the people, listen to their concerns and protect their rights. I will treat everyone equally and do my work with this motto in mind," she said.
Purushottam Chitrapur thanked all the council members and the elected representatives and said, "We will continue the good work initiated by Mahabala Maarla during his tenure as mayor and do our best to fulfill our responsibilities. I will support the mayor in the overall development of the corporation."
Former mayor Mahabala Maarla congratulated the new mayor and the deputy mayor and said, "Over the past one year, we have brought about so many development works in Mangaluru. I thank the MLAs, MLC and corporators for their support. The past one year was a stepping stone for my political career. I wish all success to the new mayor and the deputy mayor."
Opposition leader in the council Premanand Shetty also congratulated Jacintha and Purushottam and said that Mangaluru faces many challenges which need to be resolved.
Earlier Update
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (CLP/MD)
Mangaluru, Mar 12: Four-time corporator Jacintha Vijay Alfred won the mayoral election with a comfortable majority on Thursday March 12. Purushottam Chitrapur has been elected as the deputy mayor with clear majority.
The mayor's post was reserved for woman candidate this time. Jacintha from Congress and Roopa D Bangera from BJP filed the nominations.
All 60 members of the council were present and voted. MLAs J R Lobo and Mohiuddin Bava and MLC Ivan D'Souza too voted. BJP MP Nalin Kumar Kateel and MLC Ganesh Karnik were absent.
The 20 BJP members in the council voted for Roopa Bangera while 38 Congress party members, including MLAs Mohiuddin Bava and J R Lobo and MLC Ivan D'Souza voted against her and in favour of Jacintha. Five council members were neutral.
MCC commissioner Hephsiba Rani Korlapati, S S Pattana Shetty and Gayathri officiated the election.
Also, K Rajesh from BJP and Purushottam Chitrapur from Congress filed nominations for the post of deputy mayor. Twenty BJP corporators voted for Rajesh and 37 Congress members including MLA J R Lobo and MLC Ivan D'Souza voted against him. Purushottam won 37 votes of the Congress while 19 BJP corporators voted against him. Five councillors remained neutral. MLA Mohiuddin Bava and BJP corporator Poornima were absent during the voting for deputy mayor.
Jacintha was declared the mayor of Mangaluru city and Purushottam the deputy mayor. They will hold the posts till March 12, 2016.
During the voting, minor chaos prevailed as MLA J R Lobo arrived late and a BJP corporator raised objections for allowing him to vote. However, Pattana Shetty said that as Lobo had arrived during the process of voting, he would be allowed.
Also, after the mayoral poll, election was held for the statutory committees of the MCC. Raghuveer, Hemalatha R Salian, A C Vinayraj, Harinath, Ashok Shetty, Rajendra and Akhila Alva filed nominations for the tax and finance committee and all 7 were elected unopposed, and Gunashekar, Poornima, Prakash D Salian, Rathikala, Nagaveni, Rajanish and Pratibha Kulai were elected to public health, education and social law committee. Tilak Raj, Diwakar, Deepak K Poojary, Shailaja, Appi, Latha Salian and Basheer Ahmed were elected to city project and development committee, while Meera Karkera, Jayanthi Achar, Asha D'Silva, Keshav, Sumayya, B Prakash and Vijaykumar were elected to accounts committee.