Afzal re-elected Patna mayor as JD(U), BJP ‘councillors’ trade charges

Afzal re-elected Patna mayor as JD(U), BJP ‘councillors’ trade charges

Patna,(BiharTimes): Afzal Imam and Rup Narain Mehta were elected as the mayor and deputy mayor of Patna on Sunday amidst allegations of horse-trading and political arm-twisting. This is the second term for Afzal as mayor.

The election once again exposed the rift between the Janata Dal (United) and alliance partner, the BJP. Incidentally, both are from the Patna City area.

Forty-one out of 72 councillors of Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) voted for Imam, who enjoyed open support from controversial strongman Anant Singh, considered very close to the chief minister, Nitish Kumar. Anant is MLA from Mokama.

Former mayor Sanjay Kumar, who is close to the deputy chief minister, Sushil Kumar Modi, got 29 votes while votes of two councillors were declared invalid. Mehta defeated former deputy mayor Vinay Kumar Pappu by 10 votes(41-31).

The election was marred by large scale backdoor drama. Some top state BJP leaders made efforts to ensure victory of Sanjay Kumar, who was mayor of Patna before Afzal Imam replaced him a couple of years back through no-confidence motion.

But Imam, a Janata Dal (United) man, managed to win over Mehta, who is also a prominent BJP activist, promising him support for the post of deputy mayor. Thus Mehta crossed over and got the support of Imam’s men and women. Thus he too got exactly 41 votes.

Another councillor, Vinod Kumar of RJD, who claimed huge support for the post of deputy mayor, decided not to contest election at the last minute, leaving only Mehta and Pappu in the fray. However, he supported Afzal for the post of mayor.

Interestingly, after being elected, Imam said he would take forward the good work that the government has been doing. But during the first term as the mayor he had repeatedly accused the same state government for the non-availability of fund and other related problems in PMC.

However, this time he promised better civic amenities. His deputy, Mehta, also said that he would try to ensure that civic works are carried out in all wards of the city.

When the election process was yet not fully complete an angry Pappu stormed out of the collectorate with few councillors. He called it as the worst election ever. There was large-scale horse-trading. Those with money and might registered victory.

He charged that Imam had full support of JD(U) MLA Anant Singh and he influenced the councillors through several means. It is unfortunate that a person like him will be mayor again.

The election to the two posts was held under the supervision of the in-charge district magistrate, Patna, Manoj Kumar. The day started with the swearing-in of the 72 newly-elected councillors.