Patna, May 5: Uncertainty is looming large over the chair of mayor and deputy mayor of Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC).

Sources in the civic agency said over 45 ward councillors are lobbying hard to remove mayor Afzal Imam and deputy mayor Vinay Kumar Pappu from their chairs, accusing them of incompetence.

According to sources, over 45 ward councillors, out of 72, have signed on a letter that proposes to bring a no-trust motion against the two after June 3, the date after both of them complete a year in office.

“There is a gross discontentment over the functioning of the mayor and his deputy, among the councillors. The two have been complete failures as leaders of the corporation. They have failed to do any development work and the situation has gone from bad to worse,” said a councillor leading the campaign.

Councillors are alleging that the proposals to form ward committees, solutions to water crisis, garbage collection and waste management plans have only remained on paper because of the incompetence of the mayor and deputy mayor.

“The city is in a major civic mess and we cannot remain mute spectators. So we would rather have someone who can get the necessary works carried out through the executive wing of the corporation and therefore we want someone more efficient in the chairs,” said another councillor.

Pappu, meanwhile, said all allegations against them were baseless.

“Those who are shouting from the rooftop alleging that the condition of PMC has deteriorated are themselves responsible for the mess. However, it is a democratic set up and if elected representatives are unhappy and want to move a no-confidence motion against us within the provisions of the Bihar Municipal Act, they are free to do so,” he said.

Sources said Imam and Pappu were elected after the removal of mayor Sanjay Kumar and deputy mayor Santosh Mehta in 2010. Kumar and Mehta were removed after the PMC board passed a no-trust vote against them.

The two challenged it in Patna High Court and a single-judge bench reinstated them but rivals approached division bench of the high court, which upheld PMC board’s no-trust vote and cancelled their reinstatement. The high court ordered for a fresh poll for the two posts.

According to Section 25 of the Bihar Municipal Act, “The chief councillor/deputy chief councillor may be removed from the office by a resolution carried by a majority of the whole number of councillors holding office for the time being at a special meeting to be called for this purpose. Upon a requisition made in writing by not less than one-third of the total number of councillors, provided that a no-confidence motion shall not be brought against the chief councillor/deputy chief councillor within two years of taking over the charge of the post and provided further that a no-confidence motion shall not be brought again within one year of the first no-confidence motion, provided further also that no-confidence motion shall not be brought within the residual period of six months of the municipality.”

Sources said in such a situation, as the act says nothing about the second set of people in the chairs, it is difficult to decide whether the mayor and his deputy could be toppled.

Meanwhile, the residents said the mess was only increasing by day in the government agency as a result of which the civic works were hit hard.

“We can only see the drama as an outsider but it is obvious that no one is serious about the PMC work be it officials or representatives. Why cannot government disintegrate the body and start it afresh?” rued Pratima Singh, a resident of SK Puri.