Moily, Poojary groups vie for civic posts

MANGALORE: The lull after the victoryis slowly giving way to lobbying among Congress workers. Ever since theCongress decimated the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Mangalore CityCorporation (MCC) elections early this week, the party workers had been makingmerry and now the real unity will be put to test as the mayoral electionsnear.Aspirants for plum posts of the corporation have started musteringsupport for their candidature. The activity has gained momentum with the arrivalof former Union Minister B. Janardhan Poojary in the city. In the faction-riddendistrict unit of the Congress split into the camps of two power groups led byPoojary and former Chief Minister Veerappa Moily, the mayoral elections havekindled interest.Close aides of Poojary said that following thumpingmajority for the Congress which bagged 42 seats in the 60-member House, thedeciding factor would be ``the word of Poojary''''. Some 25 of the 42 electedmembers owe allegiance to Poojary, a supporter told The Times of India. He addedthat the same group of members will pull the strings in deciding the candidatesfor the top two posts.It is almost certain that the post of mayor thistime would be reserved for a candidate from the general category and that ofdeputy mayor to a woman candidate from the Backward (A). The governmentnotification is expected within a week, knowledgeable sources said.Noreservation of any kind would pose problem in selecting the right candidate asall the 42 newly elected corporators are eligible to contest as candidates.Therefore, seniority will be the keyword during the selectionprocess.Thanks to the absolute majority for the Congress, the situation isnot as volatile as it was on previous occasions. The BJP, the main oppositionparty, registered its lowest score ever with 14 seats while four independentsmade hay.Of the independents, three are Congress rebels who are expectedto return to the party fold once the MCC Council is formed, the Congress leaderssaid. In all, the Congress has a clear support of 45 corporators in a House of60.The activities in both Poojary and Moily camps of the district Congressseem to be getting hectic by the day. The two factions are leaving no stoneunturned to muster maximum strength so that they have the final say. Again,observers from the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) would have tointervene to settle the matter as has been the case always.While districtin-charge minister B. Ramanath Rai and District Congress Committee presidentBlasius D''Souza are going about ``organising'''' the corporators, the Poojarygroup is confident it has the requisite numbers.At the moment, a few namesare being projected for the mayoral post from both groups. Former Mayor andsenior party corporator Krishnappa Mendon, James D''Souza, Mahabal Marla andShashidhar Hegde are tipped as the mayoral candidates (Moily group). Alsodoing rounds are the names of Ashraf, Lancelot Pinto, Vijaya Arun and PadmanabhaAmin -- all having been elected at least for a second term and owing allegianceto Poojary. They claim to be in the race for the mayoral post.While thoseinterested in endorsing Mendon''s candidature said the senior party worker shouldbe given the post as he had been a mayor albeit for a short tenure of threemonths, there is little or no opposition to the candidature of Lancelot asmembers felt he has been a sitting deputy mayor and the mayoral post could comehis way some time.As the deputy mayor''s post might be earmarked forcandidates from Backward (A) Women, it would be difficult for the leaders tosort out the candidates for the post. As the activities get hectic during thenext few days, it only seems that the one with a broad support base among thenewly elected corporators and impressing the leaders could well grab the robesof the First Citizen of Mangalore.