Tasneem Banu Becomes Mysuru's First Muslim Woman Mayor

The Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) elected its first-ever Muslim woman mayor on January 18, in its 158-year-history. The civic body will now be headed by 31-year-old Tasneem Banu, who also happens to be the MCC's youngest mayor and a mother of two.

While Congress' Sridhar was chosen as Deputy Mayor, Tasneem, a Janata Dal (S) corporator, was elected the 22nd Mayor of Mysuru, bagging 67 votes out of 70.

The candidates fielded by the JD(S) and Congress - which are in an alliance, in the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC), defeated Geetha Yoganand and Shantamma who were fielded by the BJP for the posts of Mayor and Deputy Mayor, respectively.

Tasneem made her entry into electoral politics just before the March 2013 Mysuru Municipal Corporation Elections, as a Congress candidate from Ward 26 – Meena Bazaar.

Since her ward was assigned for a candidate under the Backward Classes category for women, Tasneem emerged as a potential candidate, replacing her three-time corporator uncle, Alhaj Naseeruddin Babu.

In 2018 after a Congress faction decided to support Janata Dal (Secular) for the state assembly polls, Tasneem went with JD(S). She was chosen as a JD(S) candidate for the later that year.

Tasneem now intends to work towards ensuring the 'Cleanest City' tag in the Swachh Survekshan rankings for Bengaluru.

"Even though we ended up third on the list of cleanest cities in the 2019 rankings, we are now working towards securing the coveted top spot on the list. With the dedicated service of our pourakarmikas, officers across all levels and with the help of our residents, we are confident of winning the 'Cleanest City' tag this time. This is my priority as of now," she told The Indian Express.

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