Bhatkal: After lying vacant for nearly 28 months, the post of president of the Bhatkal Town Municipal Council (TMC) will finally be filled through an election scheduled for September 8. The move comes as the current council heads into the final phase of its term, which concludes on November 4. The notification was issued by the Bhatkal Tahsildar based on directions from the state government.

The position remained unfilled since the completion of the first half of the TMC’s tenth term. The election for the second half could not be held earlier because the seat had been reserved for a Scheduled Caste (woman) candidate. With no councillor in that category within the Bhatkal TMC, the council had no eligible nominee. In the interim, vice-president Altaf Kharuri has been discharging the duties of acting president.

The stalemate was resolved after the state government revised the reservation rules. A notification issued by the Urban Development Department on July 21 reclassified the seat as reserved for a Scheduled Caste candidate, irrespective of gender. This change enabled the election process to move forward.

According to official sources, the election will take place at the TMC meeting hall between 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on September 8. Councillor Raghvendra Gawaali, who was elected as an independent and is the only Scheduled Caste member in the council, is widely expected to be chosen as president.

If elected, Gawaali will serve only a brief term, as the tenure of the current council ends on November 4. The election, however, marks the end of a prolonged leadership vacuum and ensures that the TMC will have a formally elected head for the remainder of its current mandate.