Mangaluru: The BJP has announced its candidates for the upcoming mayoral elections of the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) on Wednesday. Arun J Shet, spokesperson for the BJP’s Dakshina Kannada, stated that Manoj Kumar, a corporator from ward No. 17 (Derebail North) in Mangalore City North assembly constituency, has been selected for the position of mayor. Bhanumathi PS (Bolar), representing ward No 58 in Mangaluru City South assembly constituency, has been chosen as the candidate for deputy mayor.

The announcement comes ahead of the election scheduled for Thursday, following the state government’s declaration of reservations for the 25th mayoral term. The position of mayor has been reserved for a Scheduled Caste (SC) general category candidate, while the deputy mayor position has been reserved for a BCA woman candidate.

Given that the opposition parties, Congress and SDPI, lack SC general category corporators, Manoj is expected to be elected as mayor unopposed. An election will be held only for the deputy mayor position, and the four standing committee chairpersons.

The current mayor, Sudheer Shetty Kannur, completed his tenure on Wednesday. In the 2019 MCC elections, BJP won 44 out of 60 seats, while Congress secured 14 seats, and SDPI won two.