SMC NO CONFIDENCE: A day before facing no-confidence, SMS Mayor Muttu meet PCC chief

Srinagar, Jun 15 : A day before facing No-Confidence Motion (NCM), Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) Mayor Junaid Azim Muttu on Monday met Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief Ghulam Ahmad Mir this afternoon.

I met Mr Mir at his residence this afternoon and discussed with him the current situation in the SMC, Mattu said.

Expressing confidence to win the NCM, Mattu said out of the 72 total corporators, 22 belonging to his party Peoples Conference (PC) headed by Sajjad Gani Lone, 17 to Congress while some independents will abstain from the NCM tomorrow.

He said all future modalities including a future course of action in SMC between the two parties – PC and Cong—will be discussed and deliberated upon by the leaderships of both parties in the following days. This is a step towards stability based on common goals in SMC, he added.

Mattu has alleged on Friday that some Corporators were held in a hotel who are making desperate calls to be rescued from imprisonment by Personal Security Officers (PSOs) of former deputy Mayor Sheikh Imran and BJP District President Ashok Bhat.

He said that BJP has sought a ‘Vote of No Confidence’ against him for the second time in six months.

The Srinagar Mayor said that the BJP group has claimed they have support from Congress and National Conference (NC). However, both Congress and NC have unambiguously denied the claims.

The term of the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor is 30 months and both have to seek a fresh mandate from the corporators after the expiry of their term. They have more than 18 months to seek a fresh mandate within the corporation.

Interestingly, Mattu had secured 40 votes to become Mayor in 2018 after BJP corporators had supported him. He bagged more than 45 votes last year to defeat the NCM and then deputy mayor Sheikh Imran who was in jail was also removed

Peoples’ Conference has 22 members, followed by the Congress with 17 corporators. “As many as 11 independents joined the NC and many are with the PDP. The BJP has only four corporators.

However, BJP’s media in-charge for Kashmir, Manzoor Bhat, has recently claimed that 27 corporators affiliated with the party have moved the motion and that around 15 more members have extended support to it.

UNI