Setback to Congress in Ambala as candidate withdraws papers, joins BJP

In a setback to the Congress, its ward 5 candidate for the Ambala Municipal Corporation election withdrew his nomination today and joined the BJP. The Congress had fielded Amanpreet Uppal against BJP’s Rajesh Mehta.

Accusing Congress Ambala City MLA Nirmal Singh of pressuring him to support independent candidate Ravinder Gupta, Uppal said, “I had been working hard for the party in ward 5 and formed a team for the Congress. Impressed with my hard work, Ambala MP Varun Chaudhry and district president Pawan Aggarwal supported me. The party also gave me ticket. I am grateful to them, but the MLA from Ambala City pressured me to withdraw my candidature in support of an independent candidate.”

Mehta said, “Uppal is like a younger brother to me, and it was sad to see the situation he faced in the Congress. We will work together for the betterment of the ward.”

After the withdrawal of the Congress candidate’s nomination, only Mehta and Gupta are left in the fray from ward 5.

Former minister of state Aseem Goel said, “A family associated with the Congress for a long time has joined and strengthened the BJP in Ambala. Their hard work was ignored by the Congress, but they will get due respect in the BJP. A couple of more independent candidates have also withdrawn their nominations to support BJP candidates.”

Refuting the allegations, MLA Nirmal Singh said Uppal was levelling baseless allegations and he had withdrawn his nomination under pressure from the BJP government.

Accusing the BJP of stealing Congress candidate, District Congress Committee president (Urban) Pawan Aggarwal said, “Earlier, the BJP used to do ‘vote chori’, and now it has started doing ‘candidate chori’. It is unfortunate as the party had shown faith in Uppal. He was a good candidate but got misled by the BJP. The matter has been brought to the notice of the senior state leadership, and further decision will be taken after consulting them.”