Trouble for ruling AAP as 2 more Sangrur councillors withdraw support to MC chief

Two more independent councillors on Friday withdrew support to ruling AAP’s Sangrur Municipal Council president Bhupinder Singh Nahal, deepening the political crisis that may result in the party losing control over the civic body.

The two councillors who withdrew support are Vijay Kumar Lankesh and Jasvir Kaur. The development comes a day after eight AAP councillors, including the five who had joined it in April, made public their resignations from the party.

They had cited “dissatisfaction” with the municipal council president and the “indifferent attitude” of senior party leaders behind the move. So far, 10 councillors have withdrawn support, reducing the ruling party’s tally significantly below the halfway mark, which AAP had achieved in the 29-member MC House with the support of the independent councillors.

According to sources, the AAP leadership is trying to persuade them to reconsider their decision. Sangrur is considered an AAP bastion as CM Bhagwant Singh Mann and three ministers, Harpal Singh Cheema, Barinder Kumar Goyal and Aman Arora, who is also the party’s state president, hail 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 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.

Rebels meet DC

The dissenting councillors met Deputy Commissioner Rahul Chaba and Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) Amit Bamby today. “We have informed the DC, both verbally and in writing, about the problems faced by local residents. He has assured us of early action,” said Vinaypal. whose wife Preet Jain is the senior vice-president.

“The MC polls were held on December 21 but AAP had just seven councillors and could not get elect its president elected till April. We had supported AAP for the post of president. However, we are upset now and have withdrawn our support,” said  Lankesh.

Those who have quit AAP include Vinaypal (husband of senior vice-president Preet 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).

On the other hand, Nahal has claimed that those who left the party would return soon.