Ghaziabad: Ahead of LS polls, five corporation councillors join BJP

The five councillors from wards 1, 42, 72, 75 and 94 on Wednesday joined the BJP and this has taken the party’s tally in the 100-member municipal house to 72 councillors

In a surprise development ahead of the upcoming general elections, five councillors of the Ghaziabad municipal corporation on Wednesday formally joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), taking the party’s tally in the 100-member municipal house to 72.

Of the five councillors, three are independents while two are from other political parties, said the BJP city unit. (HT Archive)

The office bearers of the BJP’s city unit said the five councillors -- three independents and two from other political parties -- joined the BJP.

“The five councillors from wards 1, 42, 72, 75 and 94 on Wednesday joined the BJP and this has taken our tally to 72 councillors in the Ghaziabad municipal corporation. It is expected that more councillors will join us and this will benefit our party in upcoming general elections,” said Sanjeev Sharma, BJP city president.

Himanshu Sharma, councillor from ward 75 (Lajpat Nagar 1), who won as candidate of Apni Jantantrik Party, said, “I joined the BJP as I wish to speed up development works in my ward. The BJP has a majority in the corporation, so getting work done will be easy.”

The second councillor to join the BJP is Kusum Goyal who contested as an independent from ward 72 of Kaushmabi.

“I was previously a councillor from the BJP and thereafter I was denied a ticket and the party expelled me. So, my wife contested as an independent and won the last municipal election. Now, the party has taken us back,” said Manoj Goyal, the councillor’s husband.

Neetu Devi, the third joinee, won on a ticket from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) from ward 1 of Christian Nagar/Bagu.

“My wife joined the BJP as there is scope for development of the ward,” her husband Dharmendra Kumar said.

BSP district president Vijay Singh did not respond to calls seeking his comment.

Earlier in May 2023, a day before the local body polls, the BJP expelled 23 of its incumbent councillors, as well as former and current organisation members, accusing them of “anti-party activities” in 19 different wards of the Ghaziabad municipal corporation.

Several of those “expelled” contested as independent candidates in the local body polls.

The BJP city president said independents from ward 94 of Surya Nagar and ward 42 of Shahpur Bamheta, also joined the BJP on Wednesday.

KM Khemka, independent councillor from ward 94, did not respond to calls while independent councillor Parmosh Yadav from ward 42 could not be reached for comment.