Another independent councillor joins AAP
In a significant development, Anita Sharma, an independent councillor from Ward No. 78 in the West Assembly constituency, has joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). With the joining of Anita Sharma, the AAP has strengthened its numbers in the ongoing fight for appointing Mayor and prove majority in the Amritsar Municipal Corporation General House.
This marks yet another addition to the growing influence of the AAP in the General House with the party’s strength now rising to 39 members. With this latest move, the AAP has successfully included seven out of eight independent councillors in the Municipal Corporation (MC) into the party fold. Only one councillor is aligning with the Congress at present.
The current party composition in the House stands at 41 Congress members, 39 AAP members, nine Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members, and four Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) members. AAP’s 39 members, include 24 party councillors, seven MLAs of the urban constituencies, seven independent councillors and a Bharatiya Janata Party turncoat.
The AAP leadership expressed optimism about further consolidating the party position in the MC mayoral election. With 39 members in the MC House, including 32 councillors and seven MLAs, the AAP remains seven members short of proving a clear majority.
According to high-level sources within the AAP, efforts are underway to achieve this goal within the next four to five days. Despite facing allegations of horse treading, leaders of the AAP are now eying on the BJP and the Congress councillors to shift their loyalty.
Anita Sharma was welcomed into the party by Cabinet Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal and former Mayor Karamjit Singh Rintu at a formal induction ceremony.
The event saw the presence of key party leaders, including councillors Priyanka Sharma, Ritesh Sharma, Vishal Bhakna, Rana Sarpanch, Harpinder Valtoha, Ricky Moudgil, Sunny Rampal, Surinder Devgan and Honey Sharma.
