New names to be announced soon: Ravinder Raina
year ahead of competition for full term, Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) controlled Jammu Municipal Corporation, resigned Saturday at the councillors' meeting to pave way for a change in guard.
Sources told news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), BJP has called a meeting of all 43 councillors of JMC after several members allegedly expressed resentment over working of present leadership of the Corporation. The senior leaders including BJP president Ravinder Raina and former Mayor Kavinder Gupta were presented during the meet.
Both Gupta and Sharma tender resignations from the posts and paved the way for change in the guard.
The mayor and deputy mayor from BJP had assumed office in 2018 after the BJP won 43 of the 75 wards in the Jammu Municipal Corporation. The next election to the civic body is scheduled to be held in 2023.
Sources said there was strong resentment brewing among corporators over the alleged lack of development works in their respective wards.
The corporators were furious over imposition of several new taxes on the general public while the services were not upto the mark.
The resignations came a day ahead of BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh’s visit to the city to attend a meeting of party corporators who will elect a new mayor and deputy mayor. Chugh is also in charge of BJP’s affairs in J&K.
Interestingly, Home Minister Amit Shah also visited Jammu Kashmir on October 1.
The two officials resigned at a two-hour luncheon meeting called to discuss a change in the offices of mayor and deputy mayor at a private club here.
BJP’s J&K unit chief Ravinder Raina, who was present at the meeting, said both Gupta and Sharma have tendered their resignations.
While talking to media persons in Jammu, Ravinder Raina informed that both the leaders wanted to provide their services for the well-being of J&K BJP, and they resigned.
He further informed that new names for the post of Mayor and Deputy Mayor will be announced in consultation with the party’s senior and core committee members in due course of time.
Meanwhile, mayor Chander Mohan Gupta said that he wish to contribute in the organization for upcoming elections and will submit his papers to Commissioner.
The development comes after BJP councillors in the party-dominated Kathua and Udhampur Municipal Councils voted against nominees of their own party.
On September 10, the BJP had lost the race to the office of president in Kathua Municipal Council to an independent after a number of its own councillors voted against its nominee. The office of president had fallen vacant following the resignation of Naresh Sharma, a BJP leader, over allegations that he had spoken against party high command.
Similarly, a number of BJP councillors had on September 22 voted for a no-confidence motion against Udhampur Municipal Council president Dr Jogeshwar Kumar Gupta, ignoring party directions to the contrary.
Of the total 21 members in the Council, all except Congress’ lone member participated in the voting process. Of them, while one vote was found invalid, 11 votes were cast in favour of the motion and only eight against it.
Going by the outcome of the votes polled, the Chief Executive Officer of the Udhampur Municipal Council even announced passage of the no confidence motion against the president.
However, soon thereafter, he put on hold the removal proceedings against the president in view of J&K High Court’s direction to hold the result—(KNO)