2 years after MC polls, Ambala finally gets deputy, senior deputy mayors

BJP’s Meena Dhingra was elected as the senior deputy mayor and HJCP’s 5 Rajesh Mehta was elected as the deputy mayor

In what appeared to be a “friendly match” between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Haryana Jan Chetna Party (HJCP) for the elections of Ambala senior deputy and deputy mayors on Thursday, both the parties unanimously chose a member each for the two posts.

Ambala mayor Shakti Rani Sharma handed over the certificates to both of them after one member each was presented as candidates and the duo was unanimously chosen at a closed-door meeting between members. (HT Photo)

BJP house member from ward number 8 Meena Dhingra was elected as senior deputy mayor and HJCP member from ward number 5 Rajesh Mehta as deputy mayor.

Mayor Shakti Rani Sharma handed over the certificates to both of them after one member each was presented as candidates and the duo was unanimously chosen at a closed-door meeting between members.

However, Congress members Mithun Verma and Megha Goyal walked out and boycotted the elections terming it a “fixed match”.

Verma said, “This is against the voter’s sentiments that elected them as ward members in 2020 when they contested against each other and now they have joined hands. It was already decided and both of them were presented as candidates and were elected in a hand raised vote. This collusion is a betrayal of public mandate.”

Mayor Sharma said that she hopes that the house proceedings will be carried out smoothly and asked that the Congress members should clear out why they walked-out.

Meanwhile, BJP’s election in-charge education minister Kanwar Pal said that the election was already decided.

“We had decided to give them deputy mayor post and keep the senior post with us. The decision was taken into consideration and house members followed the party’s instructions,” the minister told the reporters at the sidelines of an event in Ambala Cantonment.

This bonhomie between the two parties was seen again in the mayoral polls months after Rajya Sabha elections were held in Haryana, where independent candidate Kartikeya Sharma, son of HJCP’s founder and former union minister Venod Sharma was elected as an MP, backed by BJP-JJP alliance and others.