Cong nominees withdraw, leave field clear for Akali rivals
All Congress nominees for municipal committee elections in Makhu and Mallanwala in Ferozepur district have pulled out of the poll fray, following which assistant returning officer Bachitar Singh Dhadha declared 13 Akali nominees declared elected unopposed.
All Congress nominees for municipal committee elections in Makhu and Mallanwala in Ferozepur district have pulled out of the poll fray, following which assistant returning officer Bachitar Singh Dhadha declared 13 Akali nominees declared elected unopposed.
The Congress nominees withdrew well before the Monday deadline, leaving another field clear for their Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) rivals, after Dharamkot in Moga district. Their withdrawal meant that polling scheduled for June 7 would not be required.
The reports during the rounds since morning that all 13 Congress candidates would withdraw finally came true later in the day.
All nominees of the SAD, led by Punjab Cooperative Bank chairman Avtar Singh Minna, son of Akali legislator Hari Singh Zira, danced to drumbeats on Monday to celebrate the party's unopposed victory.
A former area legislator had betrayed the party, claimed district Congress committee president Anoop Singh. "The traitor engineered the withdrawals," he said, adding that "he will join the SAD in the presence of senior leaders of that party."
The SAD's unanimous election would bring special grant from the government to the twin civic areas, said Minna. "It will also keep the party together."