The Hindu 19.04.2013
Election Commission okays Mayor, Deputy Mayor polls
The Election Commission of India (EC) has given the green signal to hold polls to chose the city’s next Mayor and Deputy Mayor.
CEO’s view
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Anil Kumar Jha told presspersons here on Thursday that the EC had stated that the code of conduct did not apply to holding the Mayor and Deputy Mayor polls.
The term of the incumbent Mayor D. Venkatesh Murthy and Deputy Mayor L. Srinivas comes to an end on April 26.
With doubts raised on whether the polls could be held when the code of conduct was in place ahead of the Assembly elections scheduled on May 5, the District Election Officer Siddaiah, who is also the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike Commissioner, had sought the opinion of the CEO.
The CEO had in turn sought the guidance of the EC in this regard.
When contacted, Mr. Siddaiah said he was yet to receive any official communication regarding the elections from the CEO. “We will act accordingly only after receiving the communication,” he said.
Notification
According to the rules, the Regional Commissioner should issue a notification on the elections at least seven days before the scheduled date. Apart from the Mayor and Deputy Mayor, members of the 12 different Standing Committees will also have to be elected on that day.
