Srinagar, Nov 03 (KNS): Jammu and Kashmir Peoples' Conference headed by Sajad Ganie Lone I exudes confidence that the party will win the election for both the Mayor and Deputy Mayor post in Srinagar Municipal Corporation. The party says that differences have cropped up within the Congress party over the post of Deputy Mayor and majority of corporators have shown their willingness to support Peoples' Conference candidates with the expectation of getting adequate funds for smart City and other projects for Srinagar city.
Senior Peoples' Conference leaders claim that their party candidate Junaid Mattoo has surged ahead with a convincing margin in winning over the support of Corporators who are set to vote for electing Srinagar’s Mayor on the 6th of this month. They claim that the PC is also likely to win the Deputy Mayor post as a major chunk of independent Corporators are with the party’s two candidates.
Most of the Corporators are of the opinion that the PC backed candidates are most favorable to win the Corporation elections and are also likely to be in a position to attract maximum funds from the Central Government for the Smart City package and other developmental programs, especially in the face of reports about imminent Government formation in the State with Sajad Lone as the Chief Minister. Speaking to KNS on the condition of anonymity, a Senior Congress leader admitted that the party seems to have reconciled with their inability to shore up numbers ahead of the crucial election on the 6th.
“There is disagreement within the party over the choice of Deputy Mayor who is a notorious Bank defaulter, since this choice has sidelined and humiliated not only the elected corporators from the Congress but also its senior leaders and office bearers.Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp ChannelWe are trying to pacify our Corporators by assuring them that justice will be done to them after the formation of the Corporation but the fact is that we are promising Chairmanship to at least a dozen odd people while there are only four such posts. It is a challenging situation and the Central Command of the party has been briefed by senior party leaders about the mess”, the Congress leader said on the condition of anonymity.
“There are reports that Sheikh Imran has joined the PDP and has been leased to the Congress as a Deputy Mayor candidate for this election. He is being supported by PDP MLA Muhammad Ashraf Mir and others while his proposer is a proxy candidate for the National Conference who is also set to join the Congress in the coming days hopefully. Although these are compulsions of coalition and these steps are being taken for the party’s interest in these elections – there is growing dissent within our workers about this turn of events”, the Senior Congress leader said.
Reacting to the Congress statement about this election being a battle between communalism and secularism, the Senior Congress Leader said there are no buyers for this usual tactic that some Congress leaders use to hide the party’s inability to win successive elections all around. “Sajad Lone is the sone of Abdul Gani Lone – a former Hurriyat leader, has been jailed and interrogated in the 90s and this is a futile attempt to hide our own inability in these elections. Our party should focus on introspection and analysis as to why we couldn’t emerge as a majority holder in these elections despite a boycott by the two regional parties”, the Senior Congress leader added. (KNS)