Two MC councillors take oath before Divisional Commissioner
More than a month after the mayoral election, two councillors took oath at the office of the Jalandhar Divisional Commissioner recently. These councillors include Inderjit Singh Pandori, a SAD councillor from Ward 43 and Vikas Gill, a BJP councillor from Ward 68 who took oath 35 days after the swearing-in ceremony conducted at Medical College, Amritsar.
The development contradicts the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leadership’s earlier claim of securing support from four SAD councillors. With the swearing-in of a SAD councillor, questions have been raised on the number of councillors claimed by the AAP. On January 27, AAP elected Jatinder Moti Bhatia as Mayor and Priyanka Sharma as Senior Deputy Mayor and Anita Rani as Deputy Mayor. The AAP leaders had claimed that they proved majority in the House with four SAD councillors.
Even a month after Amritsar got its new Mayor, a House meeting has not been convened. Development works remain limited to promises and claims. Meanwhile, Congress councillors have accused the administration of floating tenders without proper approval of the agenda. It may be mentioned here that Congress councillor Vikas Soni filed a petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court on January 28, alleging that AAP forcefully secured its Mayor’s election, and demanded its cancellation. A double bench of the High Court held the first hearing on January 29.
On February 11, a notice of motion was uploaded, and the next hearing was initially scheduled for April 21. However, Vikas Soni appealed for an expedited hearing. The court has now directed the government to submit its response by March 17.
