Darshana re-elected Ahmedabad deputy mayor

Darshana Vaghela, BJP corporator from Dhudheswar, was re-elected deputy mayor of Ahmedabad at the AMC's general board meeting on Friday. This is Vaghela's second term as deputy mayor.

The term of deputy mayor is for one year, while that of mayor is for two-and-an-half years. Vaghela had been elected deputy mayor in October 2010 after AMC polls.

BJP corporator Vasant Parmar proposed Vaghela's name for the post of deputy mayor, which was seconded by chairperson of recreation, culture and heritage committee, Bijal Patel. On the other hand, the Congress proposed the name of Rakhial corporator Archna Makwana for the post.

During his speech, Parmar proposed the name of Darshana Vaghela for the post of deputy mayor in 'Karnavati Mahanagar Palika'. But leader of opposition Badruddin Shaikh raised a point of order and said that Parmar's proposal was faulty as it is Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and not 'Karnavati Mahanagar Palika'. Then mayor Asit Vora *clarified that in the written proposal submitted by Parmar, it was mentioned Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation so there was no technical problem.

Meanwhile, former opposition leader Surendra Baxi's suggestion to elevate Vaghela to the post of mayor and elect Makwana as deputy mayor made all present in the hall burst into laughter, as it would mean that mayor Vora would have to resign from his post if he had to accept the proposal. Vora also took it lightly and told Baxi that they (Baxi and Vora) were good friends and why he was making such a proposal.

The general board also appointed four members on the board of AMTS — Jayshree Pandya, Kanu Mistry, Ajay Gajendragadkar and Ashok Patel.