The elections to the key posts of president, senior vice-president and vice-president of the Mandi Gobindgarh Municipal Council witnessed chaos and protests today. Opposition councillors and four AAP councillors alleged that the entire election process was manipulated to ensure the re-election of Harpreet Singh Prince as president, who is considered a close confidant of the Amloh MLA.
Prince won the post of president with 19 votes. Vineet Bittu, senior vice-president, secured 16 votes and Sukhwinder Kaur, vice-president, also polled 16 votes. The House has 29 councillors.
Four councillors of AAP, six of the Congress and the BJP walked out of the proceedings, alleging that they were not even allowed to propose the names of their candidates before the election was declared complete.
Addressing the media after staging a walkout, Dilraj Sofat, who resigned from AAP to contest the president’s post, alleged that the election was conducted in complete violation of democratic norms.
She claimed that after all 29 councillors were jointly administered the oath, the SDM announced the start of election process. Immediately after Prince’s name was announced, Opposition councillors attempted to propose her candidature but were prevented from doing so, she alleged. As AAP councillors started thumping desks, the SDM counted the hands raised by the councillors of the ruling party and declared the results without allowing nominations from the Opposition, claimed Dilraj.
Former Cabinet Minister Kaka Randeep Singh joined the protesting councillors. Terming the election as the “murder of democracy”, he said the Opposition would challenge the election in the court.
Meanwhile, mediapersons alleged that they were denied entry into the MC complex.
