Rampura council acting chief resigns

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, July 14

The acting president of the Rampura Municipal Council, Mandeep Karkara, has given his resignation to Power Minister Gurpreet Singh Kangar. He has cited family matters as a reason behind his resignation.

However, it is learnt that the reason is his verbal spate with Congress councillors. Some party councillors showed their resentment with the acting president on Friday, after which Karkara decided to put in his papers.

After Congress came to power, many SAD councillors joined the party. Charanjit Singh and Mandeep Karkara were unanimously elected as president and vice-president.

Irked over which, former council president from SAD, Sunil Bitta, knocked the door of the court and got a stay on theMunicipal Council president’s post.

Since September 22, 2017, vice-president Mandeep Karkara has been working as acting president.

Sunil Bitta claimed that if Karkare had been serious about tendering his resignation then instead of sending it to the Power Minister, he should have sent it to the Secretary of the Local Bodies Department or to Deputy Director, Bathinda, as the power to accept resignation is with the secretary. Bitta said a mature and responsible person was required to manage the affairs of the council.

Repeated attempts were made to contact Power Minister Gurpreet Singh Kangar over the issue, but he remained unavailable.