Afaq Bhat
Srinagar, July 12: Srinagar Municipal Corporation is again in news as time has come to reelect the new Srinagar Mayor. The elections are slated to be held on Tuesday. Former Mayor Junaid Mattu will be locking horns with the former Deputy Mayor Sheikh Imran for the coveted post.
When Imran was placed under detention post August 5, 2019, the SMC councilors brought no-confidence motion against him and he was ousted. When Imran was released from detention he along with other councilors brought no-confidence motion against Mattu and the Mayor ended up losing his chair. “At this point of time scores between the former Mayor and former Deputy Mayor are equal. Whosoever wins the Tuesday’s round will get to score an extra point,” an analyst told Precious Kashmir.
He said, “Both Imran and Junaid will try their best to score a point over each other. How they will play their cards remains to be seen. The forthcoming Mayor elections are not only about two individuals but these are also about the political parties that are a part of the SMC. Peoples Conference, Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress and National Conference (party had claimed that it did not contest Urban Local Bodies elections in 2018).”
The analyst said, “One has to see how many candidates NC has in the SMC. The party has been claiming that it holds the key. It remains to be seen which key the party is talking about.”
An observer said, “In absence of any political activity in Kashmir the SMC has emerged as a hub of politics in the summer capital during the recent past. All the political parties seem to be making an attempt to control the Corporation, which in past was considered to be an irrelevant political institution. It appears that political parties in Kashmir have started believing that gaining control over the SMC could pave the way for them to regain the power.”
He said, “Since 2018 the political parties seem to have lost relevance and attempts are being made by the leaders of these parties to somehow make their presence felt again. The results of forthcoming Mayor elections will prove which party stands where. If the candidate supported by NC is able to win it would mean that proxy candidates of the party who contested the ULB polls in 2018 really hold the key. If the candidate supported by NC loses it will make it clear that party exercises no control over the SMC.”
Another analyst said, “These elections are going to be interesting as the two arch rivals are going to contest and none of them can win without seeking support from the parties which they used to oppose in the past.”
