Cong, BSP, Independents align to elect new Phagwara mayor

Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president (PPCC) Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and Leader of Opposition in Punjab Vidhan Sabha Partap Singh Bajwa held a preparatory meeting after the local Congress leadership almost finalised its plan to align with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the three Independent winning candidates to form the new Municipal Corporation (MC) House here.

From the Lok Sabha elections to the recent MC polls held in Punjab, people of the state have made it clear that their first choice is Congress. Candidates, who have won in the civic body elections with good margins, will be given higher responsibilities by the Congress.  Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president

The meeting was held at Anmol Palace in Banga near here where all 22 candidates, who won the MC polls, appeared before the party’s senior leadership.

An Independent candidate Balwant Rai Kotrani, who won from Ward No. 44, joined the Congress during the meeting. With his inclusion into the party, the Congress increased its own tally to 23. The party is also confident of getting support from Independent winning couple Davinder Sapra and Rupali Sapra from Ward Nos. 12 and 13, respectively.

Other than this, party leaders are sure about support of BSP candidates Tej Pal Basra from Ward No. 14, Amandeep Kaur from Ward No. 25 and Chiranji Lal from Ward No. 34. All three BSP candidates talked to Warring and Bajwa over mobile phone who took them into confidence.

On the occasion, Rupinder Kaur Hothi, joint secretary, Aam Aadmi Party women cell, also joined the Congress. Phagwara Congress MLA Balwinder Dhaliwal said, “We are all set to elect our Mayor. We are just waiting for the government to issue a notification in this regard.”

While addressing the media, Warring said from the Lok Sabha elections to the recent MC polls held in Punjab, people of the state had made it clear that their first choice was Congress. He said candidates, who won the civic body elections with good margins, would be given higher responsibilities by the Congress. He said the health condition of Jagjit Singh Dallewal was critical, but nothing is being done by the state and Central governments. He further opined that Dallewal should end his fast as governments were not taking his health condition seriously. He further said the law and order situation in Punjab had deteriorated since the AAP came to power in the state.

He alleged that the AAP government was not competent to handle issues of Punjab efficiently. While addressing mediapersons, Bajwa said Punjab CM Bhagwant Singh Mann was directly controlled by AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal. He said the government in Punjab was run by AAP leaders sitting in Delhi. He further said it was shameful that the Punjab CM instead of going to Khanouri to inquire about Dallewal’s health preferred to fly to Australia.