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Srinagar MC mayor to face no confidence motion again
This is the second time in last six months that Mattu will be facing a no confidence motion. In December last year, he had defeated a similar attempt by a group of corporators to vote him out of his position.
Srinagar mayor Junaid Azim Mattu on Thursday said a no-confidence motion has been moved against him at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party, and asserted that he enjoyed majority in the municipal corporation and would take on the challenge democratically and legally.
“Been informed that BJP has sought a ‘Vote of No Confidence’ in the SMC against me. Those who have submitted the motion are either elected members/office bearers of BJP or unambiguously associated with BJP. This is the second such motion by BJP against me within six months,” Mattu said.
In December last year, he had defeated a similar attempt by a group of corporators to vote him out of position.
BJP’s media in-charge for Kashmir, Manzoor Bhat, said 27 corporators affiliated with the party have moved the motion and that around 15 more members have extended support to it. The SMC has 74 wards.
Srinagar MC secretary also confirmed that a no confidence motion has been moved against the mayor by some corporators.
In a series of tweets, he blamed the National Conference, Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for joining hands to move a no-confidence motion against him.
While hinting that the corporators of the three parties are coming together to topple him as the city mayor, Mattu tweeted:” If @BJP4India @INCIndia and @JKNC_ are actually coming together to vote me out — I wear it as a badge of honour! BJP and Congress have never allied in the country’s history and if they want to ally now against us, I couldn’t ask for a greater validation of my dignity.”
Shortly after the SMC mayor’s tweet, the National Conference spokesperson had denied it. “The party has no understanding or inclination to have an understanding with the BJP. Neither in the SMC nor elsewhere,” the spokesperson said.
BJP state spokesperson, Altaf Thakur said majority of corporators are not happy with Mattu and they want former deputy mayor Sheikh Imran as the SMC mayor. “We have nine members and they will support Sheikh Imran. This time, the no confidence motion will be successful as corporators of all parties are not happy with Mattu and feel he is neglecting their wards,” he said.
Jammu and Kashmir Congress Committee president Ghulam Ahmad Mir said Mattu became the mayor with help of former governor Satya Pal Malik. “We have nothing to do with his position as a mayor. Some people having roots in Delhi are trying to dislodge him. A few months ago, he had managed to defeat the no confidence motion with the help of these corporators who are now trying to defeat him.”
Mir said the Congress has 17 corporators in the SMC and they have nothing to do with the BJP. “The BJP has only three members. How can they bring him down. However, there are many disgruntled corporators in the SMC who want Mattu out because according to them he is not an able leader.”
Mattu, 35, had resigned from the National Conference only to participate in the polls in 2018. A former financial analyst who returned from the US barely a decade ago to join politics, he is also one of the senior leaders of the People’s Conference led by Sajjad Lone.
The term of the mayor and the deputy mayor is 30 months and both office bearers have to seek a fresh mandate from the corporators. They have more than 18 months to seek a fresh mandate within the corporation. Interestingly, Mattu had secured 40 votes to win the election in 2018 and the BJP corporators had supported him. He bagged more than 45 votes last year to defeat the no confidence motion and then deputy mayor Sheikh Imran who was in jail was also removed. However, Imran has been released and he is now trying to topple Mattu.
With agency inputs
