Around three-and-a-half-months after dissolution of the Patti municipal council (MC) and removal of its Congress party-led president, state transport minister Laljit Singh Bhullar’s paternal aunt was on Monday elected as the local body’s chief.
Lakhbir Kaur Bhullar, who was elected as councillor from ward number 7, got 15 votes, including one of the ministers.
The voting was conducted in the presence of sub-divisional magistrate (SDM)-cum-returning officer (RO) of Patti sub-division Rajesh Sharma.
Councillor Balkar Singh, who had joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) after the MC’s dissolution, was elected as senior vice president of the committee.
However, ward number 6’s councillor and an old volunteer of the party Kulwant Singh Kalsi, who had reportedly raised a banner of revolt against dynastic politics and was the contender for the post of the president, was awarded the post of the vice president. Kalsi is also the Tarn Taran district president of the BC wing of the party.
There are 19 wards in Patti, which is the home town and constituency of Bhullar. During the last MC elections, the Congress party had registered victory on 15 of the total 19 wards. Two candidates each of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and AAP had also won the elections.
{{/usCountry}}There are 19 wards in Patti, which is the home town and constituency of Bhullar. During the last MC elections, the Congress party had registered victory on 15 of the total 19 wards. Two candidates each of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and AAP had also won the elections.
{{/usCountry}}In April, after Laljit Bhullar was inducted in the state’s cabinet, a few councillors of the Congress party started meeting him in Chandigarh. On April 22, a no-confidence motion was filed against the then Congress party’s Patti MC chief Dalbir Singh Sekhon, a close associate of former Congress MLA Harminder Singh Sekhon.
Ten of the congress party’s fifteen councillors had voted in favour of the no confidence motion, thus dethroning Sekhon. After this, the Congress party’s ten councillors had joined AAP. In June, Sekhon was booked for allegedly obstructing a public servant.
Sources said Bhullar had been conducting back-to-back meetings with the councillors in Chandigarh for the election of the new MC body.
On Monday, 14 councillors, including ten turncoats of the Congress party and two each of SAD and AAP, had taken part in the election process. However, 5 councillors of the Congress party had abstained from voting. The minister had first proposed the name of Kalsi for the president’s post, but no councillor voted for it.
After this, councillor Tirth Sabharwal had proposed Lakhbir Kaur’s name and she got votes from all the 14 councillors besides the minister. ENDS