Patiala district no more a Congress bastion

Tribune News Service

Patiala, March 11

Considered a fortress of the Congress once, Patiala is now represented by leaders of different political parties, be it in the Municipal Corporation, Legislative Assembly or Parliament. Ajit Pal Singh Kohli of AAP will represent the Patiala Urban constituency in the just concluded Assembly elections.

Capt Amarinder Singh, who was in the Congress, won the seat in the 2017 Assembly polls. His resumption to the seat followed the party’s victory in the 60-member Municipal Corporation when it grabbed 59 of the 60 seats. Later, his wife and former minister of state for external affairs Preneet Kaur also bagged the MP seat in 2019.

But the exit started in September 2021, when Amarinder, due to his differences with Congress leadership, left the Chief Ministership and the party. He floated a new outfit, Punjab Lok Congress (PLC). Soon, he was joined by 23 councillors (and the city Mayor), thus leaving the Municipal Corporation fragmented.

Kohli grabbed the high-stake Patiala seat from Capt Amarinder Singh with a margin of nearly 20,000 votes. The latest development has left only 37 Municipal Councillors representing the Congress in the city corporation. —

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