Year on, Ambala yet to get Dy Mayor

Nitish Sharma

Tribune News Service

Ambala, December 26

It has been almost one year since the Ambala Municipal Corporation elections were held, but the Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor are yet to be elected.

Election being delayed purposely

The election is being delayed purposely. As per the rules, it should have been conducted within 60 days. We will submit a memorandum to the Commissioner, Ambala Municipal Corporation. — Mithun Verma, Congress Councillor

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We Will soon initiate process for poll

The election of the Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor is pending. We will soon initiate the process for the election. — Dhirendra Khadgata, Commissioner, Ambala MC

The election of 20 councillors and the Mayor was conducted on December 27 last year, the results were declared on December 30 and the newly elected Mayor and councillors were administered oath on January 14.

Out of 20 councillors, BJP had the maximum 8 councillors in the new house of Ambala Municipal Corporation followed by Haryana Jan Chetna Party (HJP) with seven councillors, Congress with three, and Haryana Democratic Front (HDF) with two councillors. But later a Congress councillor switched over to the HJP, taking the HJP’s tally to eight. With the development, both the BJP and HJP now have eight members each in the house, while Congress and HDF have two each.

A city resident and Punjab and Haryana High Court advocate Hemant Kumar said as per Rule 71 (2) of the Haryana Municipal Corporation Election Rules, 1994, the holding of elections for both the posts was to be ensured by the Commissioner within 60 days from the notification of the names of the Mayor and the elected members of the House. The notification in this regard was issued on January 1, 2021 by the State Election Commission, Haryana.

Congress Councillor Mithun Verma, said, “The election is being delayed purposely. As per the rules, it should have been conducted within 60 days. We will submit a memorandum to the Commissioner, Ambala Municipal Corporation.”

Mayor Shaktirani Sharma, of the HJP, said, “We have been facing several issues. Even the House meetings are not being held properly and in such situations all other things become secondary. We have raised the issue with the officials. The date (for the election of Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor ) is to be decided by the officials. Posts are lying vacant in the corporation in the absence of adequate manpower and I have written to the Urban Local Bodies so that adequate working strength is ensured.”

Ambala City MLA Aseem Goel said, “It (election) is up to the government. We have asked the officials to ensure optimum the use of available resources in the development of the areas under the municipal corporation.”

The Commissioner, Ambala Municipal Corporation, Dhirendra Khadgata, said, “The election of the Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor is pending. We will soon initiate the process for the election.”