Quota triggers anger, councillors may move court

Kulwinder Sangha

Mohali, March 5

The step of the Punjab Government to reserve the post of Mayor of the Mohali Municipal Corporation for women has caused surprise and resentment among a number of newly elected members of the civic body.

Meetings are now being held by different groups to discuss the situation and some candidates are also planning to go to court against the “last-minute decision” of the government. According to reports, some winners of the SAD, who were eyeing the Mayor’s post, are also disappointed over the government’s move.

It is reported that the reservation was part of a calculated plan of Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, halqa in charge of the SAD, to keep rebel leader and coloniser-turned-politician Kulwant Singh out of the race for the Mayor’s post.

Manjit Singh Sethi, who contested the elections as an Independent from Ward No. 14, said by getting the post of Mayor reserved, “Ramoowalia has proved himself to be a failure”. He did not have the magic number of 26 in a House of 50, required to be the group in majority, and feared that Kulwant might become the Mayor, added Sethi.

He said he would consult an advocate and, if any lacuna was found in the government’s decision, would be filing a petition against it.

Another winning candidate, Amteshwar Kaur, an Independent, said the decision of the government “amounted to the murder of democracy”. If at all such a decision had to be taken, it should have been done before the civic body elections were held. She said it would be bad luck for Mohali if a “politically motivated person was made the Mayor instead of a deserving one”.

Congress MLA Balbir Singh Sidhu said it was a move of the government to keep the Congress or Kulwant Singh out of the race for the Mayor’s post. It amounted to cheating as the reservation was done after the elections were held. He said the Congress was still in the race even though the post had been reserved.

Kulwant Singh said by getting the Mayor’s post reserved, Ramoowalia had “admitted that he is a loser” as he knew he would be unable to get anybody elected as Mayor from among the men candidates.

Refuting the allegations levelled against him, Ramoowalia said he had no role to play in getting the Mayor’s seat reserved. The government at its own level had reserved the Mayor’s seat in Mohali for women and that in Bathinda for the Scheduled Castes. He said he was not a loser as he had won 23 seats and had dominated the scene despite the eleventh-hour defection. He said the “Mohali civic body was not a purchasable commodity and he would not allow anybody to auction it ”.

Mayor's election likely on March 9
The election to the Mayor's post is likely to be held on March 9. Deputy Commissioner Tejinder Pal Singh Sidhu said here on Thursday that a notification in connection with the elected candidates of the civic body had been issued by the government and his office had received a copy in this regard. He said a copy of the notification regarding the reservation of the seat of the Mayor for women was likely to be received late in the evening. He said a 24-hour notice had to be given to the candidates for the election of the Mayor. This was likely to be held as early as possible and could even be held on March 9.
One of the elected candidates of the civic body said the government was issuing the notification in connection with the reservation of the seat late in the evening to avoid legal hassles as  the courts were closed over the next three days. And  now it  was  in a hurry to get the election of the Mayor held at the earliest, probably on March 9  or 10.