The most significant success of the BJP is the victory of its Mayoral candidates in four major cities of the state—Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur and Gwalior. In Bhopal, the BJP has been able to get its nominee installed as Mayor after a gap of 15 years. All this while, Congress Mayors were managing the civic affairs of the city. BJP's Ms. Krishna Gaur has been elected as the Bhopal Mayor. She is the daughter-in-law of Mr. Babulal Gaur, former chief minister and the seniormost member of the Shivraj Singh cabinet. Mr. Babulal Gaur launched Ms. Krishna Gaur into politics after she lost her husband about three years ago.. Even in this short span of time, she became a well-known figure in the political circles of Bhopal and has emerged victorious in the first election she contested.

But Ms. Krishna Gaur is unlikely to have smooth sailing as the Mayor because majority of the elected Corporators belong to the Congress. Given the rules than govern functioning of the Corporations, no Mayor can do justice to her job unless she enjoys the support of a majority of the Ward members.

Of the 13 Municipal Corporations in the state, 8 have gone into the BJP kitty. Besides Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur and Gwalior, the cities where BJP nominees have been elected as Mayor include Khandwa, Burhanpur, Rewa and Ratlam. Congress could capture only two Municipal Corporations—Dewas and Katni. Two Corporations, namely Satna and Singrauli, have been annexed by the BSP. The most surprising result came from Sagar, where the electorate, ignoring the BJP and Congress candidates, elected a eunuch as Mayor. Kamla Bua was in the fray as an Independent. It is for the second time in the state that a eunuch has been elected the Mayor. Earlier, the Katni voters had handed over the Mayorship of their town to a eunuch.

Besides Corporations, the BJP has captured a majority of the Municipal committees and Nagar Panchayats as well. In the first phase, BJP nominees were able to capture 19 municipal committees while Congress candidates won in 17 municipal committees. CPM, BSP and SP won one Municipal committee each while Independents were elected as Presidents of two bodies.

In the first phase, elections were held to 69 Nagar Panchayats, of which 32 were won by the BJP and 13 by the Congress. The BSP won in two Nagar Panchayats and SP in one.

In the second phase too the BJP maintained its lead. Of the 23 Municipal Committees that went to the polls, the BJP won in 12 and the Congress in 11. Of the 121 Nagar Panchayats, the BJP annexed 55 and the Congress 41. The remaining positions were divided between the Independents (15), BSP (8) and SP (1).

While the picture is clear vis a vis the Mayors of Municipal Corporations and the Presidents of the Municipal Committees and Nagar Panchayats, it is difficult to say which party has captured the majority of the Wards. Conflicting claims are being made by both the parties on this count. The final position may be known in a week's time.

One major problem that is coming in the way of smooth functioning of the Municipal bodies in the state is the provision of direct election of Mayors of Municipal Corporations and Presidents of the Municipal committees. This leads to a piquant situation in many a Corporation and Committee, where the Mayor or President belongs to one party while another party captures a majority of positions of the Ward members. The Ward members block the proposals of the Mayor and vice versa. What has made the situation even more complicated is the provision that allows the Ward members to unseat the Mayor or the President through a no-confidence motion.

Former civil servant and well-known expert on urban affairs Mr. MN Buch is critical of the provision of direct election of heads of Municipal bodies. “In the US, the President is elected directly by the people but he cannot be removed by the Parliament. He can be unseated only by impeachment. We have created a system which is hybrid of the Presidential and Parliamentary systems. This is nothing short of a disaster,” he says. Mr. Buch is in favour of the abrogation of the amendment in the law, made in 1997, providing for direct election of Mayors and Presidents “They should be elected by the Ward members, just as Prime Ministers are elected by the MPs and the chief minister by the MLAs,” he opined. (IPA)