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Punjab government removes Mohali mayor Amarjeet Singh Sidhu
Punjab government removed Mohali mayor and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Amarjeet Singh Sidhu from the House over allegations that he presided over F&CC meetings, in which tenders were awarded to society, of which he was a member
The Punjab government on Friday removed Mohali mayor and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Amarjeet Singh Sidhu as councillor of the municipal corporation (MC) in a conflict-of-interest case. By virtue of this order, he is also rendered disqualified as the mayor.
Amarjeet, who is the younger brother of former Congress health minister Balbir Singh Sidhu, had joined the BJP, along with Balbir, in June 2022. Since then, the clamour for his removal had been growing in the 50-member MC House, where the Congress is in a majority.
Punjab has a five-year term for the mayor.
Mohali got its first mayor in 2015 and this is for the first time that a mayor’s councillorship has been nullified in a conflict-of-interest case.
In August, a complaint was made to the local bodies department that Amarjeet had allegedly presided over meetings as finance and contract committee (F&CC) chairman, in which tenders were awarded to a society, of which he was a member.
Acting on the complaint, the Punjab local bodies department had on September 17 sought his response within two weeks on why he should not be removed from the post of councillor under Section 36 (F) of the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act for violating Section 63 of the Act, which says that no member of the corporation can participate in the meeting or decide on any issue pertaining to his interests without disclosing the same.
The Opposition had accused Sidhu of allotting 12 tenders worth around ₹1.5 crore to this society, Amritpreet Cooperative Society Limited, Phase 6.
The order passed by secretary, local bodies department, says the government was left with no other option but to disqualify him as councillor as he has violated Section 63 of the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act 1976.
MC commissioner Navjot Kaur said the civic body is yet to get a formal communication from the local bodies department. Further proceedings would be initiated accordingly, she added.
Officials privy to the process said since Amarjeet has been disqualified as councillor, a fresh process for election of mayor would be initiated as per the standard practice.
Sidhu, meanwhile, could not be contacted. But sources close to him said the decision would be challenged in a court. “It is a politically motivated decision. We are hopeful of a favourable decision from the courts,” a leader close to Sidhu said.
No cakewalk for AAP to install its mayor
The Congress is in the majority in the House but has most councillors with close association with the Sidhu family. As of now, Congress has 34 councillors, the mayor (now expelled) is with the BJP and senior deputy mayor Amrik Singh Somal and deputy mayor Kuljeet Singh Bedi have been expelled by the Congress party for anti-party activities. There are 11 councillors of Azad group, led by Mohali AAP MLA, Kulwant Singh and two are independents. SAD and BJP had no councillors when the election was held in 2021.
Sidhus enjoy so much clout in Mohali MC that neither AAP nor Congress could initiate a no-confidence motion when the duo joined the BJP in June. Anti-defection law does not apply in MC and even as Sidhu joined BJP, he was being supported by Congress councillors.
