Notification out, mayoral elections within a month

The much-awaited ‘roster system’ for reservation of SC, BC and women candidates for the posts of mayor in the municipal corporations of Amritsar, Jalandhar, Phagwara, Ludhiana and Patiala was notified on Tuesday evening. The elections to these civic bodies were held on December 21 last year.

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As per the orders issued by the Special Secretary-cum-Director, Local Government, the post of mayor in Ludhiana has been reserved for women candidates under The Punjab Reservation for the Offices of Mayors of Municipal Corporations Rules-2017. The top post in the other four corporations has been kept for general category candidates.

As soon as the notification for the mayoral elections was issued, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Congress intensified their efforts to hold their councillors together and “win over” others to have their candidates elected as mayors. The Opposition Congress alleged that the ruling party was indulging in horse trading to cobble together majority.

The Divisional Commissioners at Ludhiana and Patiala have been asked to initiate the proceedings for the election of mayors, senior deputy mayors and deputy mayors. The mayoral elections have to be held within a month, said sources in the government.

None of the stakeholder political parties — be it AAP, the Congress or the BJP — has an absolute majority in the Ludhiana, Phagwara and Amritsar civic bodies. In the 85-member Jalandhar MC, AAP has claimed to have the majority with 44 votes after six councillors — two each from BJP and Congress and two Independents — joined the party. AAP is also in majority in the Patiala MC.

“It is not only that the AAP lacked majority in a number of civic bodies, apprehension of cross-voting by party councillors due to differences among its leaders over the choice of mayoral candidates had delayed the notification,” claimed Pargat Singh, Congress MLA from Jalandhar Cantt.

In Ludhiana, AAP is making all efforts to declare its majority, after talks between the Congress and the BJP to form the MC failed. The Ludhiana MC has 95 wards, and 48 councillors are required to form the House. AAP won 41 seats, Congress 30, BJP 19 and SAD two while three seats were won by Independents.

In Amritsar, the calculations of the Congress went haywire as four Independent councillors joined the AAP. However, no party is able to prove majority in the House, which has 85 councillors and five MLA members. AAP now has 28 councillors and five MLAs. The AAP leadership is reportedly trying to add two more members from Jandiala and Attari constituencies, as their areas fall under the MC jurisdiction, to increase the strength in the upcoming House to 35.

The Congress has 40 councillors. It has got the support of two Independent councillors while the two other Independent councillors have not opened their cards yet.

Former Deputy CM OP Soni’s nephew Vikas Soni, brother of former Amritsar (North) MLA Sunil Dutti and former opposition leaders Raj Kawal Preet are in the race for the post of Mayor. AAP is hoping that a rift between Congress leaders would work to its advantage. Also, both the parties have an eye on the nine BJP and four SAD councillors.

The 50-ward Phagwara Municipal Corporation remains anyone’s game. While the Congress claims to have touched the required numbers to have its Mayor, AAP leaders with just 12 councillors too are not giving up the party’s claim to the top post. In the elections last month, the Congress had won in 22 wards and remained short of four seats to reach the required number. After an Independent candidate joined the Congress and three winners from the BSP assuring it their support, party MLA Balwinder S Dhaliwal claimed that they were ready to lead the new MC House.

An AAP insider revealed that the party was sure of the support of all four BJP councillors, all three SAD winners and at least one of six Independent candidates. Additionally, differences among Congress leaders over the choice of the Mayor candidate could lead to cross-voting.

A notification for election to the top posts of 44 municipal councils and nagar panchayats has also been released. The post of president in the municipal council of Mullanpur Dakha has been reserved for SC candidates. It is reserved for women, including SC candidates, in Rampura Phul. The top posts in nagar panchayats of Ghaneri is reserved for SC candidates, Khemkaran (women) and Mahilpur (BC). For the remaining civic bodies, general category candidates are eligible to contest the top post.

(With inputs from Deepkamal Kaur, Mohit Khanna, Manav Mander, Charanjit Singh Teja and Ashok Kaura)