In a surprise move, the Congress and BJP on Monday hinted that they may form an alliance and elect their mayor in the Ludhiana Corporation, wresting power from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which had recently emerged as the single largest party. Punjab Panchayat Elections.
On Saturday, voters returned a divided house in the 95-member Ludhiana MC Mahasabha with AAP 41, Congress 30, BJP 19, SAD 2 and Independents 3. Despite being the largest party, the Aam Aadmi Party failed to win a majority and speculations have increased in the mayoral election.
Both the BJP and the Congress announced that they would not support AAP “under any circumstances”, and may enter into an alliance to field their own mayoral candidate.
Congress district president Sanjay Talwar and BJP district president Rajnesh Dhiman confirmed that “they do not want AAP as their mayor and councilors from both parties have agreed to an alliance but they are awaiting the leadership’s decision”.
Talwar said, ‘We are ready for an alliance with the government BJP in Ludhiana. We have spoken to all our councilors and they have agreed to this. We are waiting for the final decision of BJP and then the final announcement will be made.
Dhiman said, ‘AAP should not be the mayor for the improvement of the city. We are awaiting the decision of our party high command.
However, opposition parties fear that the ruling AAP will now resort to horse-trading and poaching to secure a majority in the MC House.
Meanwhile, Deepa Rani Chaudhary, an independent who won from Ward No. 11 in the recently concluded Ludhiana Municipal Corporation elections, joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the presence of Cabinet Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar on Monday. With the entry of Chaudhary, the number of Aam Aadmi Party has increased to 42, but the majority is still 6 members short.
Congress wins Khanna’s re-election
Congress candidate Satnam Singh has won in the re-polling held on Monday in Ward No. 2 of Khanna Municipality.
Re-polling was necessitated after Aam Aadmi Party leaders and their supporters vandalized the EVM machines during the counting of votes on Saturday. Satnam Singh got 798 votes, while AAP Gurdeep Kumar got 535 votes. The Congress is demanding an FIR against local AAP workers who allegedly vandalized EVMs.
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