Meeting called for election of Ahmedgarh Municipal Council posts

Mahesh Sharma

Mandi Ahmedgarh, July 13

Thirty months after the constitution of the Aam Aadmi Party government in the state, the local Municipal Council is still waiting for a chief. A meeting, scheduled to take place on Thursday, July 18, has been called to fill the posts of president and vice-president of the Municipal Council. But in the absence of legislator Jaswant Singh Gajjan Majra, who is also an associate member of the council, people see bleak chances of it being conclusive.

On the other hand, political permutations suggest that Congress councillors enjoying majority in the House of 17 elected councillors, will have to support SAD aspirant Mani Sekha for the post of president, if they want to retain the vice-president’s post.

Vikas Tandon, who was unanimously elected as chief of the council during the Congress regime with the support of then MLA Surjit Singh Dhiman, was dethroned from the office by passing a no-confidence motion on February 16, 2023. The factionalism among Congress councillors, which resulted in Tandon’s removal, has also emerged as a major factor behind the situation.

Residents have been complaining against the alleged poor functioning at the municipal council after MLA Jaswant Singh Gajjan Majra was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a bank case about nine months ago.

Block Congress president Deepak Sharma said the current lobbying has been done, keeping in view the woes of residents, who want immediate resumption of development works by filling the president’s post.

“As nobody else other than Mani Sekha has yet lodged a claim to contest election for the post of chief of the council, we will conduct a meeting of our councillors, prior to election meeting and take some decision in public interest,” said Sharma.

Aam Aadmi Party’s Block President Vikas Krishna Sharma argued that the acting presidents had been looking after the functioning of the council by working in coordination with government personnel during the period when the permanent post of president was vacant.

“When the administration has called the meeting, we will take a decision after consulting our leader MLA Ghajan Majra or party leaders designated by him,” said Sharma.

Constituted during the previous Congress regime, out of 18 members — including associate member — of the Ahmedgarh Municipal Council, 10 councilors were from Congress. But due to factionalism in the party, they have to adopt a SAD councilor for the post of president and satisfy themselves with the post of vice president.