Ludhiana to welcome its first female mayor on January 20

This year’s mayoral position has been reserved for women, and Ludhiana is poised to see its first female mayor in several years

After a brief delay due to the passing of MLA Gurpreet Gogi, the formation of the new municipal corporation (MC) House is set to take place on Monday. Preparations are underway for the oath-taking ceremony of councillors and the election of the city’s seventh mayor, which will be held at Guru Nanak Dev Bhawan at 11 am.

Front-runners for the position include Nidhi Gupta and retired principal Inderjit Kaur. (HT File)

This year’s mayoral position has been reserved for women, and Ludhiana is poised to see its first female mayor in several years. Front-runners for the position include Nidhi Gupta and retired principal Inderjit Kaur. People familiar with the matter said Gupta has strong backing from the AAP’s Delhi leadership, while some local leaders are lobbying for Kaur.

The Punjab government’s notification on January 6 confirmed the reservation of Ludhiana’s mayoral seat for women, reflecting efforts to ensure greater gender inclusivity in governance. The ceremony was earlier supposed to be held on Tuesday but now “bhog” of AAP MLA West Gurpreet Gogi is going to be held on Sunday and election for mayor is scheduled to be held on Monday.

The current MC House presents a fragmented political scenario, with no party holding a majority. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leads with 43 councillors, followed by the Congress with 29, the BJP with 20 and the SAD with two. This composition indicates potential challenges in electing the mayor without cross-party negotiations or alliances.

In the past, the Congress-led government had Sarabjit Kaur as the deputy mayor, while Sunita Aggarwal held the same position during the SAD-BJP alliance from 2012 to 2017. The oath-taking ceremony will also mark a new chapter in Ludhiana’s governance, with the city’s first major step towards restructuring under the current political framework.