Junaid Azim Mattu is an Indian politician from

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory since 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered by India as a state from 1952 to 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (prin ...

. He was Mayor of Srinagar till November 2023.

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 Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah (5 December 1905 – 8 September 1982) was an Indian politician who played a central role in the politics of Jammu and Kashmir. Abdullah was the founding leader and President of the All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Confer ...

's Muslim Conference party, later renamed to National Conference. Mattu studied at the

Burn Hall School Burn Hall School is an all boys missionary school in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir, India. Its motto is ''"Industria Floremus - In Toil We Flourish"''. It is one of the oldest schools in the valley. The school ...

in Srinagar and the Bishop Cotton School in

Shimla Shimla, also known as Simla ( the official name until 1972), is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared the summer capital of British India. After independence, the city ...

. He graduated in Business and Finance from the

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

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".In Srinagar, Ram Madhav pushes for the third front
The Hindu, 9 November 2018.

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., The Kashmir Walla, 6 November 2018 He switched back to the People's Conference before contesting the Srinagar municipal corporation elections in 2018. An alliance of the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

and the People's Conference apparently won 40 seats many of the winners contesting as "independents".BJP makes gains in Valley as Congress sweeps Leh in Jammu and Kashmir local polls
Hindustan Times, 21 October 2018. 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 The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

with 26 votes. He aimed to develop the BJP-People's Conference alliance as a 'third front' in the

Kashmir Valley The Kashmir Valley, also known as the Vale of Kashmir, is an intermontane valley in northern Jammu and Kashmir, a region in Indian-administered Kashmir.(a) (subscription required) Quote: "Kashmir, region of the northwestern Indian subcont ...

in competition with the National Conference and the People's Democratic Party. In June 2020, he was removed from the position of Mayor of Srinagar after losing a

no-confidence motion A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fit ...

. However, in November 2020, he was once re-elected as Mayor of Srinagar with a 2/3rd majority. Mattu, in November 2020, joined

Altaf Bukhari Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari is an Kashmiri politician hailing from Kashmir. He is the president of the Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party, a political organization, which he launched in 2020. He served as the member of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative A ...

led

Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party Jammu () is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the tertiary source ...

. In February 2021, he was appointed as the President of Jammu and Kashmir Apni Youth Federation, which is youth wing of Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party. In August 2024, he resigned from Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mattu, Junaid Azim Kashmiri politicians 21st-century Indian Muslims Kashmiri Muslims Jammu and Kashmir People's Conference politicians Jammu & Kashmir National Conference politicians Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Mayors of places in Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir municipal councillors Politicians from Srinagar Apni Party politicians Bishop Cotton School Shimla alumni 21st-century mayors of places in India