Cong councillors withdraw no-trust motion against Bathinda mayor

BATHINDA: Apparently sensing that the party might have to face embarrassment in case of defeat, Congress councillors in Bathinda municipal corporation on Thursday withdrew the no-confidence motion against mayor Balwant Rai Nath.

The party, in a representation signed by 25 councillors last week, had demanded that the mayor, a SAD councillor in the MC ruled by SAD-BJP alliance, to prove majority in the House. However, Congress councillors, in a written representation to the mayor withdrew the motion on Thursday. At the time of filing of application for no-confidence motion, councillor Jagroop Singh Gill had said the city was suffering due to the inefficiency of the mayor and MC wards represented by opposition councillors were being neglected while sanctioning development works.

Bathinda district Congress (Urban) president Arun Wadhawan said the party councillors have withdrawn the motion on the instructions of senior party leaders who felt that it was not the appropriate time to bring the motion. “The Congress had the support of 33 councillors required to remove the mayor in the 50-member House but party leaders didn’t want to do that. Removing the mayor at this time will mean saving the SAD-BJP from accountability for its failures,” he said. KARNAL: A man was arrested on Thursday for strangling his 6-year-old daughter to death at Dabkhera village of Kurukshetra district on Wednesday.victim Asmit Kaur’s mother Harjinder Kaur said her husband Jasbir Singh had taken their daughter out of the house and came with her body. Her father-in-law had told her that Jasbir had strangled her to death. A case under Section 302 of the IPC was registered. Jasbir said he killed his daughter as he was under stress for not being able to pay her school fee.