The Patna Municipal Corporation mayor's election on August 11 would see a keen contest between the Afzal Imam camp and those opposed to him.

Former mayor Imam seems to be the only strong candidate in his camp. Sushma Sahu, Dipak Chaurasia and former mayors Sanjay Kumar Singh and Sanjay Kumar are in the reckoning in the anti-Imam camp.

Elections are not fought on party lines in the Patna Municipal Corporation but most councillors in the Imam camp are JDU workers. Those against him are mostly BJP supporters.

Imam was ousted from the mayor's post through a no-trust motion on July 16. The state poll panel has fixed August 11 as the date of the mayor's election.

Those in the opposition camps of Imam claimed that the name of their candidate would be announced by the end of this month. "Feedback is being taken from the councillors in our camp. Meetings would be held next week, following which we would come out with the name. We have the majority and I am sure the new mayor would be from our side," said Sanjay Kumar Singh, the councillor from ward No. 1.

Imam, on the other hand, claimed that most of his supporters wanted him to contest for the post but he was not too keen. "I am mulling over climbing up in the political hierarchy. I want to be either in the Assembly or the Legislative Council," he said.

On if he was allowed to contest the election despite being the outgoing mayor, Imam said: "I don't think there would be any issue if I contest. The Section 25(7) of the Bihar Municipal Act, 2007 prohibits the outgoing mayor from contesting the next election only if he/she has been removed by the state government. But I was voted out from the post of mayor through a no-confidence motion," said Imam.#