Junaid Azim Mattu

Junaid Azim Mattu is an Indian Kashmiri politician belonging to the Jammu and Kashmir People's Conference, He is former Mayor of Srinagar, elected in November 2018. On 16 June 2020, Junaid Azim Mattu was removed as mayor of Srinagar Municipal Corporation after losing no-confidence motion.

Life

Junaid Azim Mattu was born in Srinagar in a politically active family. His grandfather Ghulam Ahmad Ashai was a founding member of Sheikh Abdullah's Muslim Conference party, later renamed to National Conference.[1]

Mattu studied at the Burn Hall School in Srinagar and the Bishop Cotton School in Shimla. He graduated in Business and Finance from the Michigan State University and worked as a financial analyst in the United States for some time. He returned to Jammu and Kashmir in 2009 to be part of "change and empowerment".[1][2]

Political career

Mattu joined Sajjad Lone's People's Conference party in 2009 and served as the Srinagar district president for the party. In 2013, he switched to the National Conference party and served as its spokesman.[1]. He switched back to the People's Conference before contesting the Srinagar municipal corporation elections in 2018. An alliance of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the People's Conference apparently won 40 seats (many of the winners contesting as "independents").[2][3]

Mattu was elected as the Mayor of Srinagar on 6 November 2018 with 40 votes from corporators, beating his closest rival of the Indian National Congress with 26 votes..[4]

Mattu aims to develop the BJP-People's Conference alliance as a 'third front' in the Kashmir Valley (in competition with the National Conference and the People's Democratic Party).[2]

References
  1. Junaid Mattu’s journey from Financial Analyst to Srinagar Mayor, The Kashmir Walla, 6 November 2018
  2. In Srinagar, Ram Madhav pushes for third front, The Hindu, 9 November 2018.
  3. BJP makes gains in Valley as Congress sweeps Leh in Jammu and Kashmir local polls, Hindustan Times, 21 October 2018.
  4. Junaid Azim Mattu is Mayor of Srinagar, The Kashmir Walla, 6 November 2018.
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