Sham Lal Jain elected senior deputy mayor of Bathinda MC

The Bathinda Municipal Corporation has a new senior deputy mayor, with Sham Lal Jain winning the election with 30 councillors voting in his favour. Jain, a three-time councillor who defected from the Congress to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), was recently appointed as Advisor to the Mayor after the creation of a new post. The election was contested by Congress candidate Harvinder Singh Laddu, who received 12 votes.

Of the total 50-member House, 42 councillors were present during the election process, while eight remained absent. Laddu said, “After the counting of votes, we withdrew our form and congratulated the winner. I received 12 votes.” AAP MLA from Bathinda (Urban) Jagroop Singh Gill was absent during the voting.

The senior BJP leader and former finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal’s faction supported the AAP group led by Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) president Amarjit Singh Mehta and his son Padamjit Mehta, who is the Mayor of Bathinda. Notably, the post of senior deputy mayor had been vacant since May, when Congress leader Ashok Pradhan was removed from the position.