High Court advances F&CC election date to Aug 25

The election of two councillor members of the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation’s Finance and Contracts Committee (F&CC) will now be held on August 25, with the Punjab and Haryana High Court advancing the date by more than two weeks.

The development follows an application filed by the corporation seeking modification of the court’s August 7 order, under which the meeting of the MC for electing the two F&CC members was to be held on September 11.

In its order dated August 14, the High Court modified its earlier direction and ordered that the date of the MC meeting for electing the members of the F&CC be read as August 25 instead of September 11. The court said the modification was being made in view of the “grave concern” expressed by the Municipal Commissioner regarding the development of the city.

The MC had sought an earlier date, stating that keeping the election pending could affect the functioning of the committee and delay important civic works. In its application, the civic body cited the ongoing monsoon and the need for urgent decisions related to water supply, sewerage, drainage, road repairs and other development works. It had requested that the election be advanced, preferably within a week.

The matter is linked to a controversy that started in June when Mayor Inderjit Kaur inducted councillors Aman Bagga and Yuvraj Sidhu as the two councillor members of the F&CC. Aman Bagga is the son of Ludhiana North MLA Madan Lal Bagga, while Yuvraj Sidhu is the son of Atam Nagar MLA Kulwant Singh Sidhu. Their induction was opposed by the Opposition, which maintained that the two members should have been elected by councillors.

The F&CC comprises the Mayor, Senior Deputy Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Municipal Commissioner and two councillor members. The two councillor posts became the centre of the controversy after the Mayor nominated the two councillors instead of an election being held. The Opposition had alleged that the move bypassed the prescribed procedure.

Congress councillor Gaurav Bhatti subsequently approached the HC challenging the nominations. His petition questioned the nomination of the two councillors and sought the election of the members in accordance with Section 42(4) of the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act, 1976.

The legal challenge came after opposition councillors had objected to the constitution of the committee. The issue had also become politically significant as no opposition councillor was included among the two councillor members of the six-member committee.

With Friday’s order, the court has now accepted the MC’s request to advance the date. The election meeting will therefore take place on August 25, bringing the months’ long dispute over the two F&CC posts to the next stage.