The election for the Adampur Municipal Council president on Tuesday plunged into a political crisis amid divisions among councillors of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The resulting chaos led to the postponement of the polling process.
In the Municipal Council elections held last month for 13 wards in Adampur, 10 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidates and three Congress-backed Independents were elected. A meeting to elect the Municipal Council president and vice-president was convened at the Adampur Municipal Council office around 9 am on Tuesday under the supervision of Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Lal Vishwas Bais. The meeting was attended by Adampur MLA Sukhwinder Singh Kotli of the Congress, AAP constituency in-charge Pawan Kumar Tinu and all 13 councillors.
The atmosphere turned tense soon after the election process began, with two AAP councillors – Charanjit Singh Sherry and Kanu – staking claim to the post of president. The development caught AAP leaders off guard as the party’s councillors appeared divided into two factions. Senior councillors from one faction levelled serious allegations against the rival group, accusing some members of betraying the party and colluding with Congress-backed councillors.
It was alleged that pacts had been made with the Congress to install its preferred candidate as president, a move that some councillors said would not be tolerated. The atmosphere became even tenser when Congress councillors and different AAP factions clashed with one another. Heated arguments and confrontations among councillors pushed the situation towards chaos, with reports of chairs being thrown inside the meeting hall. Meanwhile, AAP leaders gathered outside the council office raised slogans, alleging that the election process had begun without videography.
Police force had to be called in considering the sensitivity of the situation and the need to maintain law and order. The administrative officials were forced to immediately halt the election process. Election officials present at the scene stated that due to the conflict and commotion among councillors, it was not possible to conduct the election fairly and peacefully at that time. Therefore, on the instructions of higher authorities, the election for the Adampur MC president got postponed until further orders. Meanwhile, after the postponement, political parties continued exchanging accusations and counter-accusations.
MLA Sukhwinder Kotli, who came out of the Municipal Council office with his supporters, said that as soon as the election process began, Kanu’s name was proposed for the post of president and seven members immediately stood in support. On the other hand, six members supported Charanjit Sherry. He said that he had supported councillor Kanu for the betterment of the city. During the election process, members alleged that the administration had not provided proper videography or security guarantees to ensure a transparent election. Members questioned how a fair election could be possible under such circumstances. Over this issue, members present inside the hall began loudly protesting against the administration.
MLA Kotli said that although his party was not in government, councillors of the ruling AAP had created a scene and made a mockery of their own government. The opposition faction accused the government and local administration of undermining the democratic process and told election officials that democracy was being compromised despite the existence of a majority.
