AAP wins Amritsar mayoral elections amid controversy

The Aam Aadmi Party won the Amritsar mayoral poll amid an uproar and controversy over the procedure followed to conduct the elections. The elections were held around 4 pm, just hours after the Punjab and Haryana High Court directed the videography of the process under the supervision of a competent authority.

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As soon as the Municipal Corporation House convened for the elections, the members were told to raise their hands if they supported the AAP candidates, according to Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leaders.

The Congress members alleged that AAP claimed victory even without proper counting.

The Congress claimed that they had the support of 41 members in the 85-member House against AAP’s 24 councillors.

A total of 92 votes, including seven of the local MLAs, who are ex-officio members of the House and eligible to vote in the poll, were to be counted.

AAP said they secured a majority with the support of four SAD councillors. Earlier, seven independents and two BJP councillors had joined AAP, taking its tally to 33. With the support of its seven MLAs, AAP had 40 votes before the elections.

AAP had fielded Jatinder Singh Moti Bhatia for the post of the Mayor, Priyanka Sharma for Senior Deputy Mayor’s post and Anita Rani for Deputy Mayor’s position.

Congress leaders, led by its state president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, alleged that AAP bypassed proper election procedures. They staged a protest outside the venue and announced to challenge the process in the court.

Congress councillor Raj Kawal Preet Pal Singh Lucky described the elections as a “murder of democracy”, accusing AAP of failing to follow the rules. “They didn’t announce Congress candidates’ name,” said Lucky.

However, AAP said two Congress councillors were absent, weakening their numbers. The party also criticised the Congress and the BJP for “not nominating mayoral candidates”.

SAD councillor Avtar Singh Truckanwala criticised the election process, saying, “It was over in just two minutes”.