Jammu: The BJP and Congress will be in straight contest for the post of Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC), the election of which is scheduled to take place through open ballot on October 21, officials said.
The posts fell vacant last month following the resignation of incumbent mayor Chander Mohan Gupta and his deputy Purnima Sharma, both from the BJP, to focus on strengthening the party ahead of next Assembly elections scheduled to take place after the conclusion of ongoing Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls.
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Two candidates each – Rajinder Sharma and Baldev Singh of BJP and Dwarka Nath Choudhary and Sonika Sharma of Congress – submitted their papers for the two posts before the JMC Secretary on the last day of the filing of nominations, the officials said.
They said Rajinder and Choudhary have filed their papers for the post of Mayor, while Singh and Sharma will be contesting for the post of Deputy Mayor in the 75-member corporation, where BJP enjoyed an edge having 44 corporators, while two members have expired.
Congress has 13 corporators and the rest of the members are independents.
“We have been chosen by the party to serve the people and we will work sincerely and to the best satisfaction of the public,” Rajinder said after filing his papers.
The Congress nominees opposed the open ballot and requested the secretary to ensure voting by secret ballots only.
Gupta and Sharma took over their respective posts on November 15, 2018 after the BJP swept the prestigious JMC during the Urban Local Bodies elections which were held in four phases from October 08-16 in 2018 after a gap of 13 years. The corporation is completing its five year term next year.
