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Tag: councillor

  • BJP enters MCD mayoral poll race; fields GK councillor Shikha Rai

    BJP enters MCD mayoral poll race; fields GK councillor Shikha Rai

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    New Delhi: The BJP on Tuesday fielded Shikha Rai and Soni Pandey for the election of the mayor and the deputy mayor of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), despite not having adequate numbers in the House.

    Accompanied by Delhi BJP leaders, Rai and Pandey filed their papers for the polls to the posts of mayor and deputy mayor respectively on Tuesday, the last day of filing nominations.

    Rai is the councillor from the Greater Kailash-1 ward, while Pandey represents northeast Delhi’s Sonia Vihar ward in the civic body.

    MS Education Academy

    Earlier, a top Delhi BJP leader had claimed that the saffron party was not likely to contest the polls as there was a “clear mandate” in the favour of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

    The AAP has re-nominated incumbent mayor Shelly Oberoi and deputy mayor Aaley Mohammad Iqbal for the posts.

    Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders hoped that the councillors in the MCD will elect Rai.

    “The BJP is determined to run a good, clean and strong municipal corporation and we hope that all corporators will elect the experienced senior councillor of the party,” Delhi BJP general secretary Harsh Malhotra said.

    Rai said she will seek votes from the councillors on the basis of her vision for the MCD. A former vice-president of the Delhi BJP, she gained prominence after joining other leaders of the saffron party in hoisting the tricolour at Srinagar’s Lal Chowk in 2011.

    A lawyer by profession, Rai is an experienced councillor of the civic body where she held the posts of leader of the House in 2017-18 and chairman of the standing committee in 2018-19.

    The one-year term of the MCD mayor begins in April. The post has five single-year terms on a rotational basis, with the first year being reserved for women, the second for the open category, the third for the reserved category and the remaining two again for the open category.

    The BJP had contested the election for the post of mayor of the unified MCD in February despite not having the necessary votes to emerge victorious. Oberoi had defeated BJP councillor Rekha Gupta in the February poll by 34 votes.

    Iqbal too had defeated his opponent from the BJP.

    The AAP won the MCD polls held in December last year. It ended the BJP’s 15-year rule at the civic body. The Arvind Kejriwal-led party bagged 134 of the 250 wards, while the BJP got 104.

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    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • Indian-American councillor faces heat from anti-drag protesters

    Indian-American councillor faces heat from anti-drag protesters

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    New York: Indian-American New York City Councillor Shekar Krishnan is facing the ire of protesters for supporting drag queens reading out to children in public libraries.

    Krishnan, who is the Council Member for District 25, came home last week to find anti-drag protesters shouting slurs and vandalizing the sidewalk outside his home in Jackson Heights.

    “…after a meaningful day of reflection on Dr (Martin Luther) King, I came home to homophobic and transphobic protesters outside my door, again, vandalizing the sidewalk & shouting slurs with my children inside,” Krishnan wrote on his Twitter handle.

    The protesters screamed “Shekar is a pedophile, he is a groomer” when his wife and children were inside the house.

    “This disgusting behavior is another reminder of the work ahead of us,” Krishnan, the first Indian-American ever elected to the City Council in history, tweeted.

    A civil rights lawyer and a long-time community activist, he stated that the New York City Council is committed to Drag Story Hour and to LGBTQIA+ communities across the city.

    “This @NYCCouncil is committed to Drag Story Hour. With every display of hate, our commitment to love and inclusivity only grows,” Shekar wrote in his tweet.

    The next Drag Story Hour in Jackson Heights is on February 24.

    Krishnan was also targeted in October last year when Drag Story Hour protesters defaced his district office with spiteful graffiti.

    He told CBS News that vile messages also clog his social media and phone lines because he supports Drag Story Hours, activity parents can choose for their kids or they can avoid.

    Last week, drag opponents vandalized Councilman Erik Bottcher’s office and home for supporting the Drag Story Hour event in Manhattan.

    Drag Story Hour protests have been on a rise in the US for the past few weeks, with demonstrators calling it “inappropriate” and that “it should not exist”.

    These Drag Story Hour events usually hosted at public libraries and bookshops — are aimed at children aged between three and 11 years, to introduce them to diverse role models and LGBTQ+ people.

    The first event was founded in San Francisco by LGBTQ+ author and activist Michelle Tea in 2015, who said she came up with the concept as a child-friendly way to introduce her young son to LGBTQ+ culture.

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    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )