M A I N   N E W S

BJP candidate elected Mayor
Councillors turn abusive, break furniture
From Varinder Walia
Tribune News Service

AMRITSAR, Oct 18 — Democratic norms were thrown to winds when Mr Brij Mohan Kapur, a joint candidate of the BJP-SAD, was declared elected amid pandemonium and a dharna inside the venue of the crucial election for Mayor of the municipal corporation here today.

The Congress and lone MLA of Sarb Hind Shiromani Akali Dal (SHSAD), Mr Manjit Singh Calcutta, described the result as “murder of democracy” enacted in the presence of the press.

Though the presiding officer, Ms Geetika Kalha, Commissioner of Jalandhar division, had declared there was a tie between the BJP and Congress candidates, Mr Brij Mohan Kapur and Mr Sunil Datti who polled 23 votes each yet Mr Kapur of the ruling party was declared elected without draw of lots.

The agitated Congress councillors resorted to breaking mikes and furniture and hurled harsh words against the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Narinderjit Singh, Ms Kalha, Mr Bakshi Ram Arora, Chairman of the improvement trust, and other officials of the municipal corporation.

The press also raised serious objections when the Deputy Commissioner asked mediapersons to leave the venue before the declaration of the result. The press refused to oblige the Deputy Commissioner and all bureaucrats virtually had to “run away” by using the second door of the municipal corporation after the announcement.

Earlier, Ms Kalha had offered recounting of the votes after the tie which was refused by the Congress.

There was clear evidence of cross-voting by the Shiromani Akali Dal and BJP councillors as they could poll only 23 votes. Had there been no cross-voting by the SAD-BJP councillors, the BJP candidate would have polled more than 30 votes. Mr Balramji Dass Tandon, a senior BJP leader and minister, Mr Brij Lal Rinwa, state BJP president, and Dr Baldev Chawla, a BJP minister, said they would hold a high-level inquiry into the cross-voting. Strict action would be taken against those who voted for the Congress candidate.

Mr R.L. Bhatia, Congress MP, and Dr Raj Kumar, general secretary of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC), said their party would move the Punjab and Haryana High Court. They said they had briefed Mr Amarinder Singh, PPCC president, who would give a state wide protest call shortly.

Earlier, the ministers and MLAs took the SAD-BJP councillors in different cars from the restaurant to the venue of voting as they feared cross-voting.

Mr Calcutta said though he had voted in favour of the SAD-BJP candidate yet he was disappointed to see the violation of electoral norms. He alleged that this was a virtual defeat of the ruling party candidate.

The Congress and CPI candidate, Mr Sunil Datti, forcibly occupied the chair of Mayor and announced that Mr Kapur would not be allowed to sit on it.

Mr Dharamveer Sareen, a rebel Congress candidate who is a close confidant of Mr Om Parkash Soni and an Independent candidate, polled 19 votes. It may be mentioned here that as many as 15 Congress councillors had resigned from the Congress and voted in favour of Mr Sareen. However, the Congress succeeded in getting the support of some SAD-BJP councillors.

Earlier, Mr Lakha Singh, officiating Mayor who belongs to the ruling SAD, had agreed to vote in favour of the BJP candidate after a lot of persuasion. However, he and his supporters reportedly crossed the floor and favoured the Congress candidate.

Cell phones were freely used inside the polling hall. The Congress, BJP and SAD men as also bureaucrats used cell phones in gross violation of the election code. Supporters of the BJP and the Congress were called outside the corporation on mobile phones and hence the police had a tough time controlling the irate mob.

Mr Baldev Singh Verka, CPI leader in the municipal corporation, said his party would give a befitting reply to the “high-handedness ” of the bureaucrats at the behest of the ruling party.

Interestingly, Mr Balramji Dass Tandon claimed he was told that the BJP candidate had won by two votes. The Congress claimed the rejected vote of its councillor was counted in favour of the Congress candidate. However, the officials did not reject the “invalid” vote of the BJP councillor.