No-confidence motion unseats Ambala Zila Parishad chief

Ambala Zila Parishad chairperson Rajesh Kumar Laddi was on Wednesday removed from office after members passed a no-confidence motion against him. The motion, conducted through secret ballot, was carried by 10 votes — the minimum required for his ouster.

Of the 15 members of the Zila Parishad, 10 voted in favour of the motion, while five opposed it. Soon after the result was announced, Rajesh Kumar quietly left the meeting.

This was the second time Rajesh Kumar faced a no-confidence motion. In November last year, he had lost by 11 votes. However, he moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which ordered status quo as the voting then was done by a show of hands rather than a secret ballot as mandated under the Haryana Panchayati Raj Act.

In July this year, the court quashed those proceedings and directed that the removal process be carried out afresh in accordance with law. Today’s voting followed that directive.

Rajesh Kumar, who won the 2022 Zila Parishad election from Ward 1 as an Independent candidate, had later joined the BJP but switched to the Congress ahead of the Assembly election. After the November motion against him, he had accused the BJP of conspiring against him for shifting allegiance.

Reacting to today’s development, Zila Parishad member from Ward 9, Makhan Singh Lobana, said, “Today Rajesh Kumar has been unseated from the post of chairperson. Due to the dispute, the matter was pending in the high court, and development works have also been badly affected. The Deputy Commissioner will call the next meeting, and we are hopeful that the new chairperson will be elected soon and the development works will also start taking place.”

Ambala Deputy Commissioner Ajay Singh Tomer confirmed the outcome. “Members from all 15 wards were present in the meeting today and 10 votes were in favour of the no-confidence motion, while five were against. The no-confidence motion has been passed against the present Zila Parishad chairperson,” he said.