The district administration has summoned newly elected Ward No. 46 councillor Aman Kumar Paswan of the Indian National Congress (INC).
This follows a complaint filled by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate from the same ward, Sarabjeet Singh, who alleged that Paswan contested the recent municipal corporation elections with an invalid Scheduled Caste (SC) certificate and holds identity proofs in both Ballia, Uttar Pradesh, and Mohali, Punjab.
After a tehsildar forwarded the complaint to the subsidiary bodies, both the tehsildar and the patwari provided written assurances that they had not attested the SC certificate, which led to the councillor being summoned on June 5.
Documents accessed by HT show that a complaint was submitted to the authorities claiming Paswan’s family originates from Ballia district in UP and questioning the validity of his SC certificate allegedly used for contesting from a reserved ward. In response, the tehsildar’s office has issued a notice asking Paswan to appear and present relevant records regarding the certificate and his state of origin.
However, Paswan dismissed the allegations as “baseless” and politically motivated. He alleged that the complaint had been engineered by individuals unhappy with the election outcome. “I have nothing to hide and will present all facts before the tehsildar on June 5,” he said.
Paswan acknowledged that his father possesses an Aadhaar card and voter registration linked to Ballia in UP. However, he said that he was born and brought up in Punjab and has been residing in Ambedkar Colony for years.
{{/usCountry}}Paswan acknowledged that his father possesses an Aadhaar card and voter registration linked to Ballia in UP. However, he said that he was born and brought up in Punjab and has been residing in Ambedkar Colony for years.
{{/usCountry}}“My family may have roots in UP, but I am using my Punjab address legitimately and am not claiming any benefit from the UP government. The allegations are misleading,” he said.
The complaint centres on whether the caste certificate relied upon for the election fulfils eligibility requirements applicable to Punjab’s reserved-category electoral seats.
Attempts to obtain a version from the administration were unsuccessful. Calls and messages seeking response from tehsildar Gurpreet Singh, whose office issued the notice, elicited no response. The matter is expected to come up before revenue authorities on June 5, when Paswan submits his response. No findings have been recorded by the administration yet.