Former allies SAD, BJP now eyeing leader of opposition seat in Ludhiana MC House

While the Congress party holds a majority in the MC General House with 64 councillors, followed by SAD and BJP, the Lok Insaaf Party comes in fourth with seven councillors

After snapping their 24-year-old ties, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are now at loggerheads, both vying for the leader of opposition seat in the General House of the Ludhiana municipal corporation (MC).

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During a meeting held between the mayor and the councillors of SAD on Tuesday, the latter said they had 11 councillors against BJP’s 10, which was why councillor Harbhajan Dang should remain the leader of opposition.

Earlier, the SAD-BJP alliance had made for 21 councillors in the MC House. The BJP now claims the support of an independent councillor, Parvinder Kaur.

While the Congress party holds a majority in the MC General House with 64 councillors, followed by SAD and BJP, the Lok Insaaf Party (LIP) comes in fourth with seven councillors. Three of the 95 councillors are independent.

Will seek legal opinion: Mayor

Dang said, “BJP is making false claims for fear of losing ground in the state. Norms dictate that the votes of independent councillors don’t count in total tally. We have asked the mayor to take legal opinion if BJP makes any claim to the seat of leader of opposition.” Mayor Balkar Sandhu confirmed this and reiterated that legal opinion will indeed be sought over the issue should such a situation arise.

BJP district president Pushpinder Singal, however, said the party had not made any claim to the position of the leader of opposition, yet. “We have not made any claims over the tag, but an independent vote will be counted as BJP’s vote since the councillor has extended support to the party from the onset. SAD is disturbed over losing BJP’s support. A few SAD councillors are even looking to join BJP.”