Some NC corporators vote in favour of motion
Srinagar, June 16: Peoples Conference leader Junaid Azam Mattu was Tuesday unseated as mayor of Srinagar Municipal after “BJP-backed” no-confidence motion against him succeeded with support of some National Conference corporators.
In a dramatic development, Mattu lost trust vote after 40 corporators voted in favour of the no-confidence motion during a special session convened here at banquet hall.
“Out of 70 councilors, 40 corporators have voted against Mattoo,” an official said.
Interestingly, some corporators from NC also voted in favour of the motion, prompting Mattu to level serious allegations against the party.
The corporators from Peoples Conference and Congress abstained from the proceedings as part of their strategy to defeat the no-confidence motion.
In a series of tweets, Mattu said that National Conference and Bharatiya Janta Party joins hands to succeed no-confidence against him.
“I respect the verdict of the Corporation. The seemingly unthinkable seems to have happened as @JKNC_ and @BJP4India have come together in Srinagar. But more on that later. Time to spend some time with my family after nearly four months of our war against #COVID19,” Mattu tweeted.
He accused National Conference of sabotaging floor strategy for failing the motion against him.
“Between PC, NC and INC-the combined strength of 18+8+17 corporators constituted 43 out of 70 seats. BJP has 11 corporators (4 on its ticket and 7 who joined the party). The floor strategy was unambiguous- to disallow a quorum of 35 and fail the motion by *abstention*,” Mattu said.
He said National Conference sabotaged their floor strategy by marking their attendance in full as opposed to Congress and PC.
“Here is where JKNC played a pivotal role led by the incumbent Dy. Mayor- It marked it’s attendance in Full as opposed to JKPC and INC-hence completing the quorum for such a motion! Whether all of them voted for BJP motion or not is irrelevant,” he said.
With Mattu losing trust vote, fresh elections would be held for the post of SMC mayor.
“It will take us at least one month to hold the election,” a senior official said—(KNO)
