AAP’s Jatinder Bhatia is new Amritsar Mayor

Aam Aadmi Party’s Jatinder Singh Moti Bhatia was elected Mayor, Priyanka Sharma as Senior Deputy Mayor, and Anita Rani as Deputy Mayor during a stormy General House meeting of the Amritsar Municipal Corporation (MC) here today.

The election was reportedly conducted by attaining a majority through a show of hands. Congress councillors and leaders claimed that the AAP announced names of the Mayor and other office-bearers without holding proper elections. Congress councillors and senior leadership, led by state president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, staged a demonstration outside the Government Medical College, where the swearing-in ceremony of Mayor and others was held. The Congress has decided to move the court to oppose the alleged unfair election process.

Jatinder Singh Moti Bhatia said, “I am thankful to the senior leadership of the AAP and the people of Amritsar for giving me this responsibility. I will pursue water, sewer and sanitation issues and find solution. Development works will be carried out as per the suggestions of local AAP leaders.”

The Congress claimed support a total of 41 councillors out of 92, which included 85 councillors and seven MLAs from the urban constituencies. After the election, while protesting against the government, the Congress held a parade of its 41 councillors. Four SAD councillors also joined the Congress members and claimed they were in the House to vote against the incumbent government, but no elections were held.

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Aman Arora thanks SAD councillors for voting in AAP’s favour

During a press conference here, AAP state unit president Aman Arora thanked four SAD councillors, who reportedly gave them unconditional support, for electing his party’s Mayor. However, while talking to The Tribune, SAD councillors Avtar Singh Truckanwala, Inderjeet Singh Pandoori and Nagwinder Kaur said they were not even aware of who the AAP’s mayoral candidate was in the House or who was elected for the post. Meanwhile, Congress councillors claimed that SAD councillors had initially decided to vote against the incumbent government. Upset over the announcement of the Mayor without proper voting process, SAD councillors joined Congress councillors in their protest.

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SAD Councillor Avtar Singh Truckanwala said, “The entire election process was completed within two minutes. We are not even aware of whom they declared Mayor.”

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) decided to walk out of the House after taking the oath ceremony. The saffron party’s seven councillors did not participate in the voting held for the mayoral elections. The AAP won only 24 seats, but seven independents and 2 BJP councillors joined them. With the support of seven AAP MLAs, their total number reached 40.

With the support of seven MLAs, AAP’s total number reached 41. Congress leaders claimed that with the four votes of the SAD councillors, they could have proven their majority if elections were held fairly.

Raj Kawal Preet Pal Singh Lucky, the Congress aspirant for Mayor, said, “It is a murder of democracy. They undemocratically announced the Mayor. We have more members in the House than AAP and the support of the SAD. They didn’t even announce the Congress candidate’s name in the House. As per the law, the names of candidates should be announced, and then the observer should count hands. But they didn’t follow the process.”

Meanwhile, the AAP issued a statement claiming that during the elections, two Congress councillors remained absent from the House, weakening the party’s position. Besides, both the Congress and the BJP failed to nominate their mayoral candidates, indicating a lack of preparation and internal coordination.

The Congress senior leadership started an indefinite protest dharna on the circular road while AAP leaders held a press conference and claimed a historic win in MC polls.

At a press conference, Aman Arora said, “Today, the AAP has been entrusted with the opportunity to serve the holy land of Guru Sahib. Our team will begin work immediately to transform Amritsar into a beautiful and well-developed city. The guarantees in our corporation manifesto will be implemented without delay. We extend our gratitude to the SAD councillors for their support.”

On this occasion, Cabinet Ministers Harpal Singh Cheema, Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, Harbhajan Singh ETO, and MLAs Inderbir Singh Nijjar, Dr Jasbir Singh, Jiwan Jot Kaur, Dr Ajay Gupta and Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh were also present.