Jan 28, 2025 : Fact Recorder
It has taken over a month and a lot of “political manoeuvring” for the Punjab’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party to finally get its own leaders elected as mayors in four of the five Municipal Corporations that went to the polls in December. With AAP having won the mayoral elections in Amritsar today, the party now has its mayors in Patiala, Ludhiana and Jalandhar too.
With AAP still not able to “manage” the requisite numbers in Phagwara, the elections there, originally scheduled for the past Saturday, have been postponed.
The official version for the postponement of the election was that there was bickering among councillors and holding the elections would have led to a law and order problem. Elections to the five the Municipal Corporations were held on December 21. When the election results were declared, AAP had a clear majority in the Patiala Municipal Corporation only.
The party had the highest number of councillors, though short of majority, in Jalandhar and Ludhiana. In Amritsar and Phagwara, the Congress bagged the maximum seats. Since these elections are not covered under the Anti-Defection law, though these are mostly contested on party symbols in Punjab, the councillors switching sides to the ruling party is not uncommon.
For AAP, which faces a tough political battle in the Delhi Assembly polls, ensuring success in the mayoral polls was important, considering that the win at the hustings here would allow AAP to control the political narrative in the Capital.
