Early Times Report
Jammu, June 13: Bharatiya Janata Party has written a letter to the Inspector General of Police, Security, to provide security cover to the ousted deputy mayor of Srinagar Sheikh Imran, who had changed his name to ‘Mujahid’ prior to August 5, 2019.
Sheikh Imran was among more than 40 Kashmir centric leaders, who were detained, after August 5, 2019, when Centre announced its decision to abrogate J&K’s special status and bifurcated it into two union territories.
When he was under detention the Srinagar Municipal Corporation corporators moved a no confidence motion against him and he was ousted from deputy mayor’s office. He was also booked by the Anti-Corruption Bureau for his alleged involvement in a loan scam.
Imran, had succeeded to become deputy mayor, due to the support of Congress. After assuming the office, he switched his loyalties and moved to People Conference led by Sajad Gani Lone. He and incumbent mayor of Srinagar, Junaid Azim Mattu, had buried the hatchet then and had decided to move ahead.
During his tenure as the deputy mayor Imran tried to toe the line of separatists and rechristened his name on twitter handle as “Mujahid.” The BJP leaders had slammed him for the same and just fell short of calling him a traitor.
After his release from the detention, Sheikh Imran, is making every possible attempt to make a comeback. According to the sources, he has approached the BJP leaders, and has sought their support to topple the incumbent mayor. It has been learnt that the Srinagar mayor will have to undergo a floor test next week as the no confidence motion has already been moved against him.
Amid all this chaos, the BJP has written a letter to the IGP security to provide Sheikh Imran with a security cover. “It’s strange that the party which just fell short of calling the former deputy mayor a traitor when he stirred the hornet’s nest by countering ‘main chowkidar hu’ campaign has suddenly developed a soft corner for Mujahid and is recommending protection for him,” an analyst told Early Times.
He said, “It seems that BJP is eyeing Mayor’s post in Srinagar and Mujahid (Sheikh Imran) has emerged as its best bet.”
Meanwhile, a BJP leader has said that party demanding security cover for Sheikh Imran doesn’t mean that party is supporting him for the Mayor’s post. |
