Mohali MC bypoll: SAD nominee withdraws

Akash Ghai

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Tribune News Service

Mohali, December 12

In an unexpected move, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) candidate, Sukhminder Kaur, withdrew her nomination papers from the Municipal Corporation by-election, evidently making the contest easier for Upenderpreet Kaur, the joint candidate of the Azad Group and the Congress.

While the party leaders claimed that the development took place following the decision of the SAD high command, certain local Akali leaders admitted that senior party leaders here were scared of a ‘probable defeat’ of their candidate. 

The Azad Group and the Congress have fielded Upenderpreet Kaur (25), the daughter of Amteshwar Kaur whose untimely death in April had caused vacation of the councillor’s seat from ward number 29.

“The position of Upenderpreet was undoubtedly strong as the Mohali Mayor and Deputy Mayor are from the Azad Group and the Senior Deputy Mayor from the Congress. Moreover, she is also likely to fetch sympathy votes,” admitted a senior Akali councillor wishing anonymity. 

Referring to Anandpur Sahib MP Prof Prem Singh Chandumajra, whose elder son was recently appointed as the Mohali ‘halqa’ in-charge, another Akali leader claimed that the senior leadership in Mohali did not want to face defeat for obvious reasons. “The withdrawal of candidature is the convenient way to avoid defeat,” said the leader.

It is to be noted that Chandumajra had recently issued a statement in which he had stated that he was in the favour of unanimous election of the candidate from the ward. 

On the other hand, Sukhminder’s supporters claimed that she would have certainly won if she would have been ‘allowed’ to contest the election. “Sukhminder had lost to Amteshwar Kaur by just three votes in the MC election in February. This time, her win was almost sure,” claimed a close relative of Sukhminder Kaur. 

Sukhminder Kaur said she just abided by the directions of the party high command and she had no complaints in withdrawing from the contest.