Congress expels Manpreet loyalist Mayor, 4 councillors

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, February 22

The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) expelled Bathinda Mayor Raman Goyal and councillors Rattan Rahi, Atma Singh, Sukhraj Aulakh and Inderjit Singh today from the party for six years for anti-party activities.

A notice was issued by the PPCC general secretary Capt Sandeep Sandhu.

Mayor Raman Goyal and the councillors were from the Manpreet Badal group and a few days back, Manpreet had joined the BJP.

Since then, the Bathinda Congress was seen divided in two groups. Even efforts from both groups were going on to bring more councillors in their camp to take control of the Mayor seat in the Bathinda MC. Now in coming days, it is likely that a fight between both groups will intensify over the Mayor post.

Congress councillor and F&CC member in the Bathinda MC Parveen Garg said, “We welcome the decision as the Mayor had been involved in anti-party activities and had even stopped the development in the city by not calling general house meeting in last four months.”

The budget meeting of the Bathinda Municipal Corporation (BMC) witnessed an uproarious scene as Congress councillors asked Mayor Raman Goyal to clear her status whether she had joined the BJP with Manpreet Badal or was still with the Congress.

The annual budget of the MC for 2023-24 was passed amid arguments between councillors and the chair.

The meeting started with a protest by the councilors as the Mayor and the Commissioner did not allow mediapersons to enter the meeting hall. It was later after the protest that the media was allowed inside.

Congress-backed councillors said the Mayor had lost confidence in the House and she should get a vote of confidence again. Many councillors were angry for not listening to their problems and alleged that they and their wards were being ignored.

The Mayor assured them that the House should first pass the budget after which she would hear the problems of all councillors. All proposals placed in the budget were passed and sent to the government for approval. The councillors alleged that the Mayor had not called the House meeting for the last four months due to which the development works of various wards had stopped.

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