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Migrant woman from West Bengal elected sarpanch of Amritsar village
Promila Kumari, a housewife, defeated her rival candidate, Sonia Sharma who was backed by the ruling Congress, by a margin of 132 votes.
A 40-year-old migrant woman from West Bengal has been elected the sarpanch of Ramnagar village on the outskirts of Amritsar city in the panchayat elections, voting for which was held on Sunday.
Promila Kumari, a housewife, defeated her rival candidate, Sonia Sharma who was backed by the ruling Congress, by a margin of 132 votes. Promila and her husband Kamal Kumar (47), alias Bengali, the outgoing village sarpanch, owe allegiance to the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).
The village has 1,756 registered voters of whom 1,274 cast their vote on Sunday.
Promila and Kamal Kumar got registered as village voters nearly 17 years ago. She entered the fray as the panchayat was reserved for women candidates this time. The couple has three children.
Kamal Kumar said, “I came to Amritsar 28 years ago and worked here as a labourer. I also worked as a rickshaw puller. We got married in 2000.”
“In 2001, we moved to Ramnagar after constructing a small house here. In the 2008 panchayat elections, I was elected as a panchayat member as a Congress worker. As I was not happy with the working of the then Congress sarpanch, I joined SAD,” he said.
“In the 2013 panchayat elections, I was elected as the village sarpanch after I defeated the Congress candidate who had been wining for 30 years. I worked hard for the village’s development,” he added.
Currently, he owns a small plastic waste management factory in the village, he said.
Promila said, “Nearly 50% voters in our village are Punjabis and the rest are migrants from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal. My agenda is to develop Ramnagar as a model village.”
SAD workers on Sunday protested outside the village polling station alleging bogus voting by the Congress supporters. Police resorted to cane-charge to disperse the protestors.
