Srinagar: Junaid Azim Mattu returned as the mayor of the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) on Wednesday, less than six months after he was ousted from the office through a no-confidence motion.

Mattu, who does not have any known party affiliation currently, defeated Sheikh Imran, a former deputy mayor who was removed from office last year through a no-confidence motion. Imran also did not represent any party in the mayoral polls.

“Mattu got 44 votes while Imran got seven. Nineteen corporators abstained from voting,” SMC Commissioner Gazanfar Ali told PTI after the election.

Mattu, who was last associated with the People’s Conference led by Sajad Lone, was removed from the mayor’s post in June in a no-confidence motion.

Imran, who was also in the People’s Conference at that time, was seen as the prime mover behind Mattu’s removal.

Mattu’s ascent to the mayoral post in 2018 was surrounded by controversy as the then governor of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, S P Malik, had predicted that he would be the next mayor of the city, weeks before the first vote was cast.

The governor’s remarks had raised question marks about the election as the names of all the candidates were kept secret even from their electorate in view of security threat perceptions.

Reader correspondent