As expected, Padamjeet Singh Mehta (28), son of Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) president Amarjit Singh Mehta, became the Mayor of Bathinda for the second time in a row. He won the MC election unopposed from Ward 46.
In the 50-member House, Padamjeet — a postgraduate from the UK — first became Mayor in February 2025 despite being the lone AAP councillor, and that too just minutes after taking oath as a councillor. The Congress had a majority in the House at the time.
During the previous mayoral election, AAP’s Bathinda Urban MLA Jagroop Singh Gill had voted for Congress candidate Baljinder Singh Thekedar, stating that the AAP had not declared any official candidate. This time, the MLA remained absent from both the mayoral election and the press conference addressed by Cabinet Minister Hardeep Singh Mundian. When asked about Gill’s absence, Mundian said, “The MLA must have had some work. One person’s happiness need not be everyone’s happiness. I can say that the AAP will form the state government again in 2027.”
Notably, ahead of the MC elections, Gill had publicly raised serious questions over the party’s ticket distribution process, alleging that the entire MC setup had been “handed over to one man”.
The AAP enjoys a comfortable majority with 35 councillors. The Congress has five councillors, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) three, the BJP one and six Independents.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann is scheduled to visit Bathinda on Friday to participate in a roadshow in support of Padamjeet Singh Mehta. Besides, AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal and the party’s Punjab in-charge Manish Sisodia are also likely to attend.
Meanwhile, the elections for the posts of Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor were kept pending. The name of Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker and Kotkapura MLA Kultar Singh Sandhwan’s mother-in-law, Harbans Kaur, a first-time councillor, is among frontrunners for the post of Senior Deputy Mayor. A housewife and councillor from Ward 5, the 70-year-old Harbans Kaur’s name had also been doing the rounds for the post of Mayor.
The councillors were administered the oath of office at the District Administrative Complex (DAC) here on Thursday.
