F&CC election row turns ugly as councillors clash over voting rights and procedure

The Municipal Corporation General House meeting on Tuesday witnessed a major ruckus over the election of two members to the Finance and Contracts Committee (F&CC), with opposition councillors demanding that the election be held through ballot papers and questioning the corporation’s interpretation of the Punjab Municipal Act.

The meeting began around 11.02 am, with stage secretary Vivek Verma announcing that the nomination process for the two F&CC posts would be taken up during the sitting. The announcement immediately led to protests from Opposition councillors.

Congress Leader of Opposition Shyam Sunder Malhotra, BJP councillor Gauravjit Singh Gora and Congress councillor Gaurav Bhatti objected to the process and questioned why the House had been called if the election was not going to be conducted on Tuesday.

The objections soon turned into a heated verbal exchange between Opposition and AAP councillors. BJP councillor Mukesh Atri also entered into a clash with members of the ruling party, leading to repeated interruptions and uproar in the House.

Opposition demands election on Tuesday

The Opposition maintained that the High Court directions required the election to be held on Tuesday and insisted that the corporation should not delay the process.

AAP councillor Tanveer Dhaliwal then said that if the Opposition wanted the election to be conducted on Tuesday, the ruling party was ready for it. He raised his hand in the House and said the election could be held that day.

Mayor Inderjit Kaur asked the councillors to give the demand in writing. She said that if the demand was submitted in writing, the corporation could proceed with the election after the tea break.

The issue, however, remained linked to the nomination process. Mayor Inderjit Kaur said, “We have been waiting for the councillors to submit nomination beforehand, but on Tuesday we have asked for nomination and according to the Act, we can conduct the election after 72 hours of nominations.”

The Mayor also maintained that the corporation was following the procedure prescribed under the Act.

Gaurav Bhatti questions delay, MLA voting rights

Congress councillor Gaurav Bhatti blamed the delay on internal differences among AAP councillors. He also questioned the participation of MLAs in the election process, stating that MLAs could not vote in the House for the election of F&CC members under the Punjab Municipal Act, 1956. Bhatti said the corporation should follow the provisions of the Act and not allow any procedure that was contrary to the law.

The issue of voting rights of MLAs became another point of heated discussion, with the ruling party maintaining that the process would be conducted according to the law.

BJP councillor raises questions over Act

BJP councillor Bhavneet Kaur, ward No. 79, strongly questioned the legal procedure being followed by the corporation. She asked the officials to clarify the relevant provisions of the Act and sought an explanation from stage secretary Vivek Verma on the rules governing the election.

Kaur said, “Either the Mayor can exercise her voting power, or she can be the deciding officer. She has one of the two options — either to vote or to address the chair. She cannot exercise both.”

She further questioned the participation of MLAs in the election and said the MC Commissioner, being an IAS officer, was well aware of the provisions governing the election.

Kaur said, “MLAs are not allowed to vote for the F&CC member election. Even if they are doing so, it is a violation of the Municipal Corporation Act. Section 42(4) is being violated.”

She also asked Verma to read out the relevant provisions of the Act before the House so that councillors could understand the exact procedure to be followed.

BJP councilor Bhavneet Kaur raises a question during the General House meeting on Tuesday. Tribune Photo: Himanshu Mahajan

Pappi challenges Opposition to approach court

AAP MLA Ashok Prashar Pappi openly challenged the Opposition during the heated proceedings. He said that if the ruling party was violating any rule or statutory provision, the Opposition was free to approach the court and file a case.

His remarks further heated up the House, with Opposition councillors continuing to question the legality of the proposed process.

The Mayor repeatedly maintained that the nomination process had been started and asked councillors to submit nomination forms by 5 pm.

Tea break amid continued uproar

As the arguments continued, the Mayor and Commissioner announced a 15-minute tea break. The House was temporarily adjourned amid the disagreement over the election procedure.

The Opposition continued to insist that the election should be held through ballot papers, while the ruling party initially discussed conducting the election if the Opposition submitted its demand in writing.

After the tea break, the issue of ballot voting again came up for discussion, with the Opposition making it clear that it would not accept a hand-raising process and wanted the election to be conducted through ballot papers.

The meeting resumed around 12.44 pm and ended at around 12.47 pm, with the election process remaining the main point of contention.

85 councillors attend House meeting

The attendance at the General House meeting was also notable, with 85 councillors present. Of the 48 AAP councillors, 47 attended the meeting. The BJP has 18 councillors, of whom 16 were present, while 22 of the 24 Congress councillors attended. Both SAD councillors were absent.

The election will be held on August 29.