The race for the seven seats of the empowered standing committee of Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) has begun following the election of its mayor and his deputy.
The committee, comprising seven members apart from mayor Afzal Imam and his deputy, Rup Narain Mehta, will be chosen by the former.
According to the Bihar Municipal Act, 2007, the committee is supposed to be constituted a week after the mayor’s election. The election for the mayor’s post was held on June 10. The members would have to take oath of secrecy before June 17 after the mayor sends the list of names of the proposed members to the district magistrate.
While the committee in the earlier corporation mostly had councillors considered close to former deputy mayor Vinay Kumar Pappu, Imam, who will be the mayor for the second consecutive term and has the discretion of choosing the members, might do away with some of them for lobbying against him, sources said.
Pinki Yadav, Sanjay Kumar Singh, Suneel Kumar and Balram Chaudhary, who were on Pappu’s side and tried hard to ensure Imam’s defeat, could bear the brunt.
“None of them are being considered for the seats in the committee. There will be new faces,” a councillor close to Imam said.
He added that names of old timers Abha Lata and Jainarain Sharma were almost final, while Vinod Yadav, Mohammad Neyaz and Sanjay Kumar might be in the new team. The name of Anhilasha Devi, who represents ward number 47, is also doing the rounds, the sources said.
If Neyaz and Sharma are taken in the team, ward numbers 50, 51 and 52 of Patna City will be represented in the committee as Neyaz, Sharma and Imam are winners from these wards, respectively.
Mahmud Kuraishi, who was in the previous committee, is unlikely to be part of the group this time. Neyaz, who has always been opposing Imam, reportedly joined hands with him just ahead of the election for the post of mayor, and could find a place in the team.
Imam, on the other hand, has decided to keep the cards close to his chest and said there was still uncertainty on the final names.
“At least 20 people are trying to be a part of the empowered standing committee. We have not yet decided on the names,” Imam added.
