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Ludhiana: AAP MLA alleges mischief after spouse’s papers ‘filed’ from women-only ward
Sarvjit Kaur Manuke says husband never filed nomination papers from the ward Jagraon municipal council elections, alleges controversy was engineered to malign family
Political controversy erupted during the scrutiny of nominations for the Jagraon municipal council elections after nomination papers filed in the name of Sukhwinder Singh, alias Sukhwinder Bihla, — husband of ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Sarvjit Kaur Manuke — were rejected from Ward No. 1, a seat reserved exclusively for women candidates.
Soon after the rejection came to light, Jagraon MLA Manuke dismissed the episode as a deliberate act of political mischief, asserting that her husband had neither filed nomination papers nor was he ever considered a candidate from the reserved ward. She maintained that Paramjit Kaur was the party’s officially declared nominee from Ward No. 1 and alleged that the papers had been submitted in her husband’s name to engineer controversy and malign the family politically.
The development triggered sharp political reactions, with the Punjab Congress taking a swipe at the ruling party on social media and sarcastically remarking that reserved wards were not part of a family package.
As the controversy snowballed, questions surfaced over how nomination papers in the name of a male candidate were submitted from a ward earmarked for women contestants.
Calling the incident a calculated attempt to create confusion, Manuke said, “Why would my husband contest from a ward reserved for women when he was never even declared a party candidate? Someone has intentionally done this to malign us politically.” She further said that AAP had already finalised all 23 candidates for the municipal council elections and there was no question of fielding her husband from the reserved seat.
Sukhwinder Singh also denied having filed any nomination papers. “I officially write my name as Prof Sukhwinder Singh and sometimes use Bihla after my ancestral village. I have no idea who submitted those papers. Someone has clearly played a prank or committed mischief,” he said.
Meanwhile, returning officer Ravi Chopra confirmed that the nomination papers were rejected during scrutiny as the file was incomplete and lacked mandatory particulars of the candidate. “The nomination did not contain essential information and was therefore rejected,” he said.
Nomination papers for the municipal council elections were filed from May 13 to May 16. The scrutiny of nomination papers was conducted on May 18, while May 19 was the
last date for withdrawal of nominations. Polling for the municipal council elections will be held on May 26, while the counting of votes will take place on May 29.
