Post of Mayor and Deputy Mayor reserved for Women

The post of Mayor and Deputy Mayor for the Belagavi city corporation has been reserved for Women.

Mayor post has been reserved for Women – General while the post of Deputy Mayor has been reserved for Backward Classes A – Women

The results of the election to the Belagavi city corporation elections were declared on Sep 6, 2021, where the BJP won with a thumping majority of 35 seats in the 58 ward Belagavi Corporation. The same has also been published in the Official Gazette.

But since then, neither the elected councilors have taken the oath nor the first meeting of the council has been held

As per the KMC act sec 42. President and vice-president.—(1) For every municipal council, there shall be a president(Mayor) and a vice-president (Deputy Mayor).

The Councillors shall at the first meeting of the Municipal Council after the general election.

The Mayor is the ‘first citizen’ of a city. But in reality, as in most municipal corporations in India, the Mayor is more often a figurehead.

A ‘one-year wonder intended only for ceremonial purposes’ is how the 2008 Kasturirangan Committee Report ‘Governance in Bengaluru Metropolitan Region and BBMP’ describes the Mayor. This is because Mayor’s powers are restricted by the law itself. According to the KMC (Karnataka Municipal Corporation) Act, 1976, Mayor only has a one-year term, and has no executive powers.

This was for the first time in the history of Belagavi that the election to the council was held on party symbols and the BJP has got a thumping majority.