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Mohali to get new mayor on April 8
Councillors to elect the mayor, senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor in the first meeting of the newly elected General House
Mohali is set to get a new mayor on April 8. The municipal corporation is convening the first meeting of the newly elected General House at 3pm on April 8, where the councillors will take oath of office and elect the mayor, senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor.
MC commissioner Kamal Kumar Garg said the agenda for the meeting has been issued to all the councillors. “Ropar divisional commissioner Anurag Verma will administer the oath, following which the elections will take place,” he said.
In the elections held for 50 wards in February, the Congress won 37 seats while the Azad Group got 10 and three went to Independents. With the Congress enjoying a clear majority, its nominees are set to occupy the three posts.
According to highly placed sources in the party, Amarjeet Singh Sidhu, 48, a first-time councillor from Ward No. 10 and brother of Punjab health minister Balbir Singh Sidhu, is the front runner for the post of mayor, while former senior deputy mayor Rishiv Jain, another contender, might have to contend with the same post once again. Kuljeet Bedi, who has won for the third time, is likely to get awarded with the post of deputy mayor, said sources.
Amarjeet, who is looking after his family’s liquor and real estate business in Mohali, said he will accept whatever responsibility is given to him by the party. “For now, we should wait for April 8 as the party is yet to announce the names for all posts,” he said.
In the 2015 elections, the SAD-BJP combine had won 23 seats, the Congress got 14, the Azad Group grabbed 10 and two went to Independents. Azad Group leader Kulwant Singh, a realtor, managed to get elected as Mohali’s first mayor with the Congress support. However, this year, he lost the elections from Ward No. 42.
