Setback for ruling AAP as eight Sangrur councillors quit party

State’s ruling AAP has suffered a setback in the Sangrur Municipal Council (MC), with its eight councillors, including the senior vice-president and vice-president, resigning from the party. They cited “dissatisfaction” with the municipal council president and the “indifferent attitude” of senior party leaders.

However, MC president Bhupinder Singh Nahal said all seven primary AAP councillors were “still with the party”.“Only five independents, who had joined the party, later have left. They will return soon. Development works are going on smoothly in the town,” he claimed.

Ruling AAP is likely to lose control over the civic body if the dissenters do not return to the party or it fails to muster numbers to retain majority. Sangrur is considered as AAP’s power centre, with Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and three ministers Harpal Singh Cheema, Barinder Kumar Goyal and Aman Arora hailing from the district. AAP had won just seven of the 29 MC seats in the elections later last year. The five independent councillors who had joined it in April had taken the party tally 12.

With the backing of AAP’s Sunam MLA Aman Arora and Sangrur legislator Narinder Kaur Bharaj, besides two other independent councillors, it crossed the halfway mark.

The MLAs are ex-officio members having voting rights. Currently, the Congress has nine councillors and the BJP three.

The Sunam MLA casts vote during the election of the MC president as two wards of the town fall in his Assembly segment. Among those who quit are Vinaypal (husband of senior vice-president Preeti Jain), vice-president Krishan Lal Vicky, Harpreet Singh Sekhon, Pradeep Kumar Puri, Avtar Singh Tara, Parminder Singh Pinky, Jagjit Singh Kala and Harbans Lal (husband of councillor Gurdeep Kaur).

Vinaypal said, “We eight councillors, three from AAP and five independents who had joined the party, have resigned. The MC president is not executing development works. Further, his language has become intolerable.”

Puri added, “We had met the CM and (AAP’s Punjab affairs incharge) Manish Sisodia, seeking the president’s removal, but nothing happened. We tendered our resignations about a fortnight ago and have now announced it publicly. We will soon ask the MC president to prove his majority in the House.”