Congress fails to dislodge Faridkot MC president
AKALI COUNCILLORS ALLEGE COPS DETAINED, THREATENED THEM AT BEHEST OF CONG LEADERS; HC ISSUES NOTICE TO GOVT
Amid ruckus, Uma Grover managed to hold on to the post of Faridkot municipal council president as a no-confidence motion was taken up against her in the House on Tuesday.
Elected in 2015, the Akali leader was facing opposition from the Congress councillors in the 25-member House. All 14 Congress councillors, led by party MLA Kushaldeep Singh Dhillon, turned up for the meeting, but fell three short of the number of votes to pass the motion.
“They required 18 votes against me, but there were only 15, including that of the (Congress) MLA,” said Grover, alleging the Congress councillors did not allow the executive officer to carry out videography of the proceedings. Faridkot sub-divisional magistrate(SDM)HardeepSingh said videography was not permitted as voting required secrecy as per norms.
Earlier, the proceedings commenced under huge police cover. Mediapersons were asked to leave the meeting room. During the meeting, the councillors banged tables and even the ballot box was broken, alleged Grover.
Talking to mediapersons, MLA Dhillon said: “The MC president didn’t inform all members about the voting, because of which others didn’t turn up. There is major rift between most members of the House and Uma Grover, which is hindering the development of the city, necessitating re-election of the president.”
CONG USING UNFAIR MEANS: AKALI DAL
Later, the drama shifted to Chandigarh, as Grover joined the remaining 10 councillors supported by the Akali-BJP combine at the SAD office. Four of them – Ashwini Monga, Vikas Kumar, Vijay Chhabra and Ashok Kumar — alleged that they were threatened by the police to support the “cause of Congress MLA”. The councillors said fearing police torture at the behest of Dhillon, who was forcing them to vote in favour of the no-confidence motion, they had “escaped” to Mussoorie a few days ago. When they checked in a hotel in Zirakpur on Monday, the SAS Nagar police detained and threatened them, said the councillors.
SAD secretary Daljit Singh Cheema said the Congress government was indulging in politics of vendetta and using unfair means to dislodge the Akali president when she still had two years to serve. “What’s the hurry? They should contest the civic body elections, when due, win and then make their president,” he said, with all 11 councillors standing beside him.
GOVT, MLA, POLICE PUT ON NOTICE
The councillors also filed a petition in the Punjab and Haryana high court, seeking protection of their and their family members life and liberty from Congress councillors and cops. The HC issued notices to the Punjab government besides the SAS Nagar and Faridkot senior superintendents of police and Faridkot MLA Dhillon. Their response has been sought by May 19.
Reacting to the allegations, the MLA said: “The Congress does not work in such fashion. It’s SAD that used to resort to such methods.”