A display of culture at JMC oath ceremony

Sumit Hakhoo

Tribune News Service

Jammu, October 30

A total of 75 newly elected councillors of the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) on Tuesday took oath, paving the way for the formation of the corporation after 13 years. Among the councillors, 27 are women.

The oath-taking ceremony started at 11 am in the jam-packed General Zorawar Singh auditorium at the University of Jammu. Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, Sanjeev Verma administered oath to the councillors. The members took oath in English, Hindi, Sanskrit, Punjabi and Urdu.

Seventeen corporators took oath in English, 39 in Hindi, 14 in Dogri, two in Urdu, two in Sanskrit and one took oath in Punjabi. Some of the members arrived late for the ceremony.

Supporters and workers of newly elected councillors raised slogans in their favour. The oath-taking ceremony was a colourful display of Jammu’s culture. Most of the corporators wore traditional Dogri headgear. The use of the Dogri language by councillors drew a huge applause from the audience.

The ceremony was attended by Legislative Assembly Speaker Nirmal Singh, BJP state president Ravinder Raina and former Deputy Chief Minister Kavinder Gupta.

No senior Congress leader attended the ceremony.

Talking to mediapersons later, Divisional Commissioner Sanjeev Verma congratulated the corporators and hoped they would strengthen the grassroots-level democracy and work for improving the civic infrastructure in their wards.

“This completed the process of the urban local bodies elections. Now, the elected members can work in their respective areas. After the Mayor and Deputy Mayor are decided and their names are announced, the normal functioning of the corporation will begin in Jammu,” said Verma.

The BJP emerged as the largest party in the JMC with 43 seats. The Independents got 18 seats and the Congress won only 14 seats.

BJP state president Ravinder Raina said the party had received overwhelming support from voters. He said the party would fulfil every promise. “It is our commitment to people to make Jammu a model city. There will be no dearth of funds for development of the wards. We are committed to our mission,” said Raina.

On announcement for the post of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor, Raina said: “The party will announce the names at an appropriate time.”

Meanwhile, adequate police and paramilitary personnel were deployed around the venue for a peaceful ceremony.

Woman councillor with headgear draws cheer  

• Young women corporators of the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) got special attention of the audience while taking oath at the General Zorawar Singh Auditorium on Tuesday. When Nidhi Magotra, one of the youngest councillors of the JMC, stood up to take oath, she was greeted with cheers and slogans hailing the Dogras. Magotra was the only woman member who wore the traditional Dogri headgear and took oath in English.

• She was elected from Ward No. 17 (New Plot, Amphalla) from BJP ticket and is the daughter of former BJP councillor Balwan Singh. “I am thankful to people who elected me from the ward. My first priority will be to improve civic infrastructure in my area and address sanitation issues,” she said.

• Bhanu Mahajan, another young corporator from Ward No. 21, Gandhi Nagar, also grabbed attention as she has done MBA from an elite university in London.

• “I have worked in the corporate sector and started my own company. But I wanted to so something for society. So, I chose the path of social work and will carry forward my work as a corporator,” Bhanu said.