Dhanbad, June 18: Dhanbad mayor Chandrashekhar Agarwal took oath, along with 55 councillors, at District Rural Development Authority's auditorium in the coal capital on Thursday amid tight security arrangements.

Later, the councillors elected Eklavya Singh as the new deputy mayor.

North Chotanagpur Commissioner Vina Srivastava administered the oath of office and secrecy to Agarwal and the councillors in the presence of state ministers Randhir Singh and Amar Bauri.

Dhanbad MP P.N. Singh, Sindri MLA Phulchand Mandal, Nirsa MLA Arup Chatterjee, Dhanbad DC Kripanand Jha and deputy development commissioner Ashok Kumar Singh, among others, were present at the ceremony that kicked off around 11am.

Soon after the swearing-in, the councillors chose Eklavya Singh as the deputy mayor through ballot papers during the indirect election held at the same venue.

Singh, the councillor of ward No. 22 and younger brother of former deputy mayor Neeraj Singh, defeated lone rival Priyanka Devi, wife of BJP leader Uchit Mahto and the councillor of ward No. 52, by seven votes.

Singh bagged 31 votes while Priyanka, a close aide of Baghamara MLA Dhullu Mahto, secured only 24 votes.

In the evening, Agrawal went to Dhanbad Municipal Corporation at Bank More, where municipal commissioner Vinod Shankar Singh and others extended a warm welcome to the new mayor.

Speaking to mediapersons, Agrarwal stressed on collective efforts to improve the condition of civic amenities and cleanliness in the coal capital.

"I will visit all the wards along with the respective councillors to assess the problems being faced by people. Projects cannot be implemented sitting in office," he said while vowing to make the town garbage-free.

Arrest

Councillor of ward No. 37 Shailendra Singh was arrested from the swearing-in ceremony in connection with the violence at a polling booth on the day of elections on May 26. However, police allowed Singh to take oath and participate in the deputy mayor's selection. Later, he was forwarded to jail.