AAP’s only elected councillor Padamjeet Mehta wins Bathinda mayoral polls as infighting proves costly for Congress

Padamjeet Mehta, 26, the recently elected AAP councillor from ward fig 48, is the lad of Amarjeet Singh Mehta, an influential entrepreneur from Bathinda and president of the Punjab Cricket Association. He graduated from the University of Westminster successful concern absorption and got a master’s grade successful planetary relations from Regent’s University, some successful London..

Talking to The Indian Express, Mehta said, “I americium the youngest politician of Bathinda, and I volition beryllium with each the councillors of the municipal corp irrespective of their enactment affiliation to find retired projects which are needed for the improvement of the city. I americium the lone councillor of the AAP successful this wide location who got elected connected the enactment symbol.”

The bypoll for ward fig 48 happened connected December 21, on with section assemblage polls successful 5 municipal corporations and 41 municipal councils. The bypoll was necessitated aft Jagrup Singh Gill, a sitting Congress councillor who had served six terms, joined the AAP successful August 2021. In March 2022, helium was elected arsenic the Bathinda Urban MLA connected an AAP ticket, defeating the Congress campaigner Manpreet Singh Badal by much than 68,000 votes.

While the AAP has got the mayor’s post, important divisions wrong the enactment person go evident. Gill wanted to nominate Binder Singh for ward fig 48, but the enactment denied him a ticket. As a result, Binder contested the predetermination arsenic an Independent campaigner but mislaid by implicit 829 votes. Gill supported this Independent campaigner alternatively than the party’s nominee, Mehta, and has been openly criticising him.

Sources revealed that galore councillors from Manpreet Singh Badal’s campy voted successful favour of Padamjeet Mehta successful the mayoral polls. Jagrup Singh Gill besides stated that Mehta was a associated campaigner supported by some Manpreet Singh Badal’s campy and the Akali Dal.-

However, AAP main spokesperson Neel Garg said, “We were hopeful that Mehta would beryllium elected arsenic the radical of Bathinda wanted improvement and due to the fact that of nary politician for much than 15 months, improvement works were stalled. As anti-defection instrumentality is not applicable to councillors, we were hopeful that councillors from different parties would besides ballot for Mehta for the involvement of metropolis development.”

Punjab AAP president Aman Arora said, “I americium thankful to the councillors of Bathinda who person voted successful favour of Padamjeet Mehta rising supra the enactment lines and reasoning astir the improvement of the city.”

Flanked by Padamjeet Mehta, his begetter Amarjeet Mehta, and curate Hardeep Singh Mundian, Arora added, “We had already got our campaigner elected arsenic politician successful 5 municipal corporations of Punjab, successful Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala and Phagwara and present Bathinda becomes the sixth.” Additionally, the AAP has secured a bulk successful 30 municipal councils, starring to the predetermination of its enactment candidates arsenic chairpersons.

Raman Goyal’s ouster

The past municipal corp elections successful Bathinda took spot successful February 2021, and the adjacent are scheduled for February 2026. The Congress won 43 retired of 50 seats successful the 2021 elections, and Raman Goyal, a loyalist of Manpreet Singh Badal, was appointed arsenic the archetypal pistillate mayor. At that time, Manpreet was a subordinate of Congress. However, successful January 2023, Manpreet joined the BJP.

Following this, Goyal’s hubby and 18 different Congress councillors visited Manpreet to congratulate him. In February 2023, Goyal and 4 different Congress councillors were expelled from the enactment owed to this incident. Then, connected November 15, 2023, Raman Goyal was removed from her presumption arsenic politician aft she could not beryllium her bulk during a no-confidence motion. Later, Ashok Pradhan, the elder lawman mayor, served arsenic the officiating politician of the Bathinda Municipal Corporation.