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Sukhmeet Bhasin
Tribune News Service
Bathinda, December 16
Ward No. 30 has been without a councillor for a year. In December last year, Congress councillor Ram Dass had passed away.
Till date, the bypoll in the ward has not been held, adding to the woes of residents. They have to approach other councillors to get their signatures on various important documents.
It seems that the ruling party in the state is in no mood to hold the bypoll in Ward No. 30 before the Lok Sabha elections. At present, if the party loses the bypoll, it may hurt its prospects in the 2019 elections in this constituency from where Harsimrat Kaur Badal is the sitting MP.
Political experts also feel that the Congress will not be in a mood to displease the local cadre. Many workers will make efforts to get the party ticket from the ward and many aspirants may express their resentment over not getting the ticket. It may dent the party’s prospects in the Lok Sabha elections.
Pardeep Gola, independent councillor from Ward No. 42, said, “The bypoll in Ward No. 30 should be held at the earliest as in the absence of a councillor, local residents are facing problems in getting their work done in the MC office. They approach us to get signatures on documents. A new councillor in the ward will resolve their problems.”
Former MLA Sarup Chand Singla, who is a SAD leader, said, “It is the duty of the state government to hold the bypoll in any ward. By not holding the the bypoll, the state government is depriving the residents of their rights.”
He said it seemed the Congress did not want to hold the bypoll and was deliberately delaying it due to infighting. The SAD leader said the ruling party feared that if it lost the bypoll, it would lose its ground ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
Congress leaders are of the view that it is the state Election Commission’s prerogative to hold the bypoll in any vacant ward.
In the 2008 civic body elections, the BJP had won the seat. In 2015, a Congress councillor won the elections from the ward.
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