Cong loses Baddi MC top post

Ambika Sharma

Tribune News Service

Solan, November 24

The BJP on Saturday dethroned the Congress-supported president of the Baddi Municipal Committee by moving a no-confidence motion against the incumbent president, Madan Chawdhary.

With five of the nine councillors, including the disgruntled Congress councillor, Narinder Kumar, and four BJP-supported councillors — Nirmala Devi, Sandeep Kumar, Maya Devi and Sushma — supporting the motion, Chawdhary faced the ouster.

Chawdhary is the brother of former Doon MLA Ramkumar Chawdhary and this coveted post had been held by the family for the past 18 years. It is a setback for the Congress, which had earlier lost the post of the vice-chairman in a similar no-confidence motion moved earlier this month.

For the BJP, which had never held the post of either the chairman or the vice-chairman ever since the MC was constituted 18 years ago, the development has come as a shot in the arm. It is also the first occasion in the Doon constituency when the Chawdhary family neither held any post in the MC nor in the state Vidhan Sabha. SDM, Nalagarh, Prashant Deshta, under whose supervision the no-confidence motion was moved in Baddi, said the date for electing the new president would be fixed shortly.

Meanwhile, former Doon MLA Ramkumar Chawdhary said the BJP government had mounted pressure on the administration to get voting done on the no-confidence motion in an undemocratic manner despite the court directions. He said 15 days were supposed to be granted to the incumbent president after the receipt of notice for no-confidence motion and this was received on November 19. A copy of the motion was also not received by the outgoing president, Madan Chawdhary.

The voting undertaken on Saturday would be challenged before an appropriate authority.

Supporters of both parties were present outside the MC office while the voting was under way and as a precautionary measure, police personnel were also stationed to avert any untoward incident though the proceedings commenced peacefully.

Second jolt for Congress 

• It is a setback for the Congress, which had earlier lost the post of the vice-chairman in a similar no-confidence motion moved earlier this month.
• For the  BJP,  which  had never held the post of either the chairman or the vice-chairman ever since the MC was constituted 18 years ago, the development has come as a shot in the arm.