AAP's Jatinder Singh Bhatia Elected As New Amritsar Mayor, Congress Calls It 'Murder Of Democracy'
Congress, which won 40 seats in the 85-member Municipal Corporation and had the support of one independent councillor, alleged that AAP "misused" government machinery in the elections.
AAP's Jatinder Singh Bhatia was elected as the new mayor of Amritsar Municipal Corporation on Monday, while Priyanka Sharma was elected as the senior deputy mayor and Anita Rani as deputy mayor.
Congress, which won 40 seats in the 85-member Municipal Corporation and had the support of one independent councillor, alleged that AAP "misused" government machinery in the mayoral polls. BJP claimed to have boycotted the election process.
New Mayor Promises To Work On Cleanliness
Bhatia thanked the AAP leadership and pledged to prioritise basic problems like cleanliness and sewerage issues affecting the city.
"Amritsar's primary concerns, including cleanliness and sewerage problems, will be addressed immediately. I am grateful to the leadership and the councillors for keeping faith in me," he said.
Punjab AAP chief Aman Arora said the party has been entrusted with an opportunity to serve the holy land of Amritsar.
"Our team will begin work immediately to transform Amritsar into a beautiful and well-developed city. The guarantees in our corporation manifesto will be implemented without delay. We extend our gratitude to the SAD councillors for their support," he said.
Congress Criticises Police Commissioner
The Congress led by its Punjab unit chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and senior leader Partap Singh Bajwa staged a protest outside the government medical college where the elections were being held. He alleged that the ruling party deployed police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar and the entire police force to prevent Congress councillors from participating in the elections.
"Blocking their entry to mark them as absent was pure dictatorship at play," Warring said, adding that AAP's "relentless thirst for power has reached new extremes".
"The police, meant to serve and protect the public, have now been reduced to puppets of the government to silence the opposition," he said.
Warring said it is a clear"murder of democracy" that the AAP announced its mayor without conducting a proper voting process. "This is an outright insult to the democratic process. AAP has completely bypassed a fair election to secure an unjust victory for itself," he alleged.
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