The Mangaluru mayor seat was open to women in general category. Congress' Kavitha Sanil was elected with a margin of 18 votes against the Opposition BJP candidate Poornima.

Congress corporator Kavitha Sanil was elected the new mayor of the Mangaluru City Corporation on March 9. Rajaneesh was elected as deputy mayor, a post reserved for scheduled tribe category in the elections held at MCC headquarters, officials said.
The mayor seat was open to women in general category. Kavitha Sanil was elected with a margin of 18 votes as she secured 38 votes against the Opposition BJP candidate Poornima who got 20 votes.
Congress MLAs J R Lobo, Mohiuddin Bava and Ivan D’Souza MLC also cast their vote in the election.
Sanil, a two-time corporator, has been acting as the chairperson of the MCC standing committee for Health.
Congress has 35 members in the 60-member council of the MCC. BJP has 20 members, JD-S 2, CPI-M, SDPI one each and an independent. The election process was conducted by Regional Commissioner M V Jayanti from Mysuru Division.
