Independent Qadri elected as Srinagar's deputy mayor
TNN Bureau. Updated: 1/14/2020 2:27:04 PM
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SRINAGAR: Parvaiz Qadri, an Independent candidate, was elected as the deputy mayor of Srinagar Municipal Corporation on Monday, defeating the BJP's Arif Raja.
Qadri, a candidate from Mayor Junaid Mattoo’s lobby got 33 votes, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate secured 24 votes.
Congress nominee Nakul Mattoo bagged seven votes, while independent candidate Mohammad Hussain got zero and four votes were rejected, officials said.
Out of 70 electors, 68 councilors used their used their franchise, while one besides Sheikh Imran, the former Deputy Mayor remained absent, who is presently under detention.
The election for the post of deputy mayor was necessitated after Sheikh Imran was removed from the position in December following a no-confidence motion against him.
Mayor Junaid Mattoo expressed his happiness over Qadri’s election and termed this as a victory of the truth and ‘a lesson’ to those who believe ‘might is right’.
“After a month of the officialdom fighting this election for the BJP, let’s hope the bureaucracy stops this brazen political campaigning now and let’s democracy prevail,” he said.
BJP leader Sham Lal Sharma congratulated Qadri on his victory and also thanked the non-BJP corporators who voted for the saffron party's candidate.
"We had only four corporators when the elections were held in 2018. Now we have 11 members and 13 others gave unconditional support during the election for deputy mayor," he said.