Mangaluru: The council of ULBs (urban local bodies) should be formed immediately, District Congress Committee (DCC) President K Harish Kumar said on Monday.

“Elected representatives should be given powers in all ULBs including Mangaluru City Corporation,” he added.

Harish Kumar said at Congress Bhavan that the dispute over reservation for post of president and vice-presidents of ULBs had ended. Yet the BJP-led state government is backtracking on forming the council and handing power to the elected representatives,” he charged.

ULBs in Ullal, Bantwal, Mulki, Moodbidri, Belthangady, and Puttur are being run by officials for 18 months now. District-in-Charge Minister Kota Srinivas Poojary, as a leader of the opposition in the Council, had raised the issue seeking formation of the council of elected representatives in ULBs, when the coalition government was in power, recollected Harish Kumar and added that the minister is now silent on the issue now.

Kumar said four months had passed since BJP came to power. Yet, no steps had been taken to elect the president and vice presidents for ULBs. The election to the post of mayor and deputy mayor is pending in Mangaluru.

Corporator M Shashidhar Hegde said; “There are no elected representatives to the council of MCC since March 2019. Even after two  months after elections, no measures have been taken to elect mayor and deputy mayor in Mangaluru. The names of the elected representatives are yet to be published to the Gazette.”

Hegde said that the reservation for the post of mayor and deputy mayor was announced a few months ago. Yet, not steps were taken to conduct the election, he added and accused MLAs of causing hurdles to the process.