2 Indian-origins contest in mayor poll in UK's Leicester

London: In Leicester in the UK, two Indian-origin candidates are against each other for the post of mayor in local elections scheduled for next month, PTI reported.

The two candidates are Conservative Party councillor Sanjay Modhwadia and independent candidate Rita Patel. The latter is a former Labour councillor who had launched her campaign saying that she is contesting to remove the mayoral role since the city needed a "fresh start". She promised that one of her first jobs in office would be the removal of the mayoral role.

Patel was one of the four councillors of the Labour Party who were suspended for six for attempting to scrap the mayor's office through a vote. Sitting Labour Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby expressed his disappointment at Patel's exit from the party.

Soulsby, who had held the mayor's seat for the last 12 years, got trapped in the eye of the storm after sectarian clashes happened in the city last September following an India-Pakistan cricket match.

When the Tories and Rita Patel said they wanted to remove the mayoral role, Leicester's Green Party promised a public referendum on the matter.

The poll is scheduled for May 4, and anyone elected may just go on to have a short stay in office.

"Many local residents have contacted our party in recent months to suggest that this is something we should do, and our members have also voted in favour of removing the position of City Mayor," Richard Tutt, Chair of the City of Leicester Conservatives, told 'Leicester Mercury'.

In Leicester, many believe that the Leader of the Council system is more democratic and accountable for the people there.