After the former Finance Minister joined the BJP, Congress and Manpreet Badal have intensified their battle for the Bathinda Mayor’s post.
Manpreet met with councillors in Badal village today after returning from Delhi. The council meeting was attended by about 20 council members, including Deputy Mayor Harmander Singh Sidhu and Mayor Raman Goyal’s husband.
Additionally, Congress leaders met with councillors and leaders in Bathinda Urban DCC, headed by Rajan Garg. According to the Congress, 26 councillors attended the meeting.
In an interview, Deputy Mayor Harmander Singh Sidhu said, “We are with Manpreet.”. We will talk to our supporters and decide whether to join the BJP soon.”
“26 councillors attended our meeting, and a few of them told me they were with the party, but since Manpreet had invited them, they would meet him.” said Garg.
Garg also said the party would remove the Mayor if she engaged in anti-party activities. Out of the 50 members of the MC, 43 were members of the Congress, including Jagroop Singh Gill, who resigned after being elected on an AAP ticket as MLA. Jagroop Singh Gill’s relative Sukhdeep Singh Dhillon also joined AAP. There are seven councillors in SAD.
Many councillors are also not opening their cards yet because of Manpreet’s sudden BJP membership.
Furthermore, it seems that the Congress alone cannot remove the Mayor since the two-third majority is required. SAD and AAP councillors must support it. In the coming days, it will be interesting to see how things unfold in the Bathinda MC.
