Deputy Mayor fails in floor test
Fayaz Bukhari
SRINAGAR, Dec 26: In a high drama at Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC), the no confidence motion against Mayor Juniaz Azim Mattu was today withdrawn while Deputy Mayor, Sheikh Imran, was removed after he failed in the floor test.
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The no confidence motion against Mattu was withdrawn today ahead of the floor test for which notification was yet to be issued. The no-confidence motion was moved by 40 Corporators against him on Tuesday. Later at least 12 Corporators objected to the motion as they alleged that their forged signatures were put on the motion.
Failing to get the numbers to defeat Mattu in the floor test and avoid any controversy of forged signatures, the Corporators this morning withdrew no confidence motion against Mattu.
Earlier, Imran was removed as Deputy Mayor of Srinagar after floor test was conducted this morning in the General Council meeting of the SMC. At least 53 Corporators voted in favour of the motion and nobody voted against it. Imran is jailed since August this year and didn’t come to vote despite jail authorities allowing him to take part in the voting that was held this morning.
Later soon after the floor test of the Deputy Mayor, Mattu sought confidence of the Corporators on him in the meeting hall and all the 54 present expressed their support for him.
Mattu later told a press conference that he is willing to face floor test every day. He said that he has full support of the majority of the Corpoators of the SMC. “They were asking me to prove majority and I proved it”, he said.
He said that for last few months 3-4 Corporators were hatching conspiracy against him. “The group was in favour of bringing in no confidence motion against me and they had no numbers but still they wanted to bring the motion. And 12 out of 40 who moved no confidence motion said that their signatures were forged”, he said.
“I submitted to floor test in front of the Coporators. They unanimously favoured me. The alliance of Congress, Independents and other organizations in SMC was formed for the betterment of Srinagar city”, he said.
Mattu said that the exploitation by outsiders in SMC should be stopped and Corporators should be allowed to work independently. “I am ready for the floor test every day. I appeal that big parties should not get fooled by some Corporators”, he said.
The Mayor said that some of the Corporators were threatened and misled. “Corporators were threatened and mislead. And today the truth has come out in front of the world. Commissioner was pressurized. The Commissioner was afraid of coming out into the hall”, he said.
Corporator Danish Shafi Bhat who was at the fore front of moving no confidence motion against Mattu, said that they withdrew no confidence motion against the Mayor this morning. “But the Mayor undemocratically and unlawfully conducted floor test on his own to declare that he has passed the floor test”, he said.
He said that they brought the no confidence motion against Mayor as he has failed to deliver and the SMC was totally defunct. “For last 5 months there was no general council meeting. A unanimous decision was taken to move the resolution”, he said.
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