Dinesh Sharma took oath as Lucknow Mayor for second time in a row at a ceremony in the state capital here today. Wearing a red mayoral gown along with the square mortarboard cap,Sharma was administered the oath by Divisional Commissioner Sanjiv Mittal in a jam-packed auditorium. Later,110 elected corporators were collectively administered oath by the Mayor. On July 8,Sharma had registered a massive win,defeating Congress candidate and runner-up Neeraj Bora by a margin of over 1.71 lakh votes. Congress had cited division of Muslim votes and divisions within the party as major reasons for the loss. Touching on almost all civic issues,Sharma promised action and said,One thing that requires immediate action is the problem of water logging. He also said the corporation will try to rectify the losses of about Rs 250-300 crore. Moreover,against a requirement of 16,000 workers,only 3,000 - 5,000 posts are occupied in the corporation,necessitating the hiring process to improve the condition of the city,he said. He urged all the corporators to not let their party and ideological affiliations hamper the working of the corporation and come together for a better functioning of the corporation. Among those present were Lucknow MP Lalji Tandon,BJP vice-president Kalraj Mishra and Municipal Commissioner N P Singh, while the event was hosted by Additional Municipal Commissioner P K Srivastav.
