Jalandhar West bypoll won, AAP sets eye on MC poll
Aparna Banerji
Jalandhar, July 21
Looking to cash in on the success of the recently won Jalandhar West Bypoll, the Aam Aadmi Party has started expediting work on various projects in city areas to gain ground in the corporation elections to be held later this year.
After winning the Jalandhar West bypoll, MLA Mohinder Bhagat had declared that the party would win the corporation elections, too. AAP is expected to wrap up the process for municipal and panchayat elections by October.
Party sources said AAP was aiming to win 60 to 65 of the 85 seats in the MC elections but the opposition is sceptical of this target. AAP never had a councillor in Jalandhar. However, it has been successful in poaching many councillors from other parties during the preparations for the Jalandhar West bypoll.
While the Congress had 65 councillors in the previous MC House, now it is left with 25 to 30 as many had quit the party. On the other hand, the AAP had no councillor in the Jalandhar Municipal Corporation, making it an uphill task for the party to get majority in the House. The corruption in the MC House and the repeated charges regarding the smart city scam are also major challenges for AAP.
Amid the charges, AAP is looking to complete as many works in a short span as possible to show people its dedication towards development.
Local Bodies Minister Balkar Singh held a meeting with Jalandhar city MLAs and the party’s two urban halqa in-charges at the Municipal Corporation building on July 16.
Balkar Singh reviewed the construction of roads, including Garha Road and Jamsher Road, and the ongoing development work at Dr BR Ambedkar Park Bootan Mandi.
A meeting was also held at Circuit House to discuss the pending works in Jalandhar West. Jalandhar West MLA Bhagat and leader Pawan Tinu presided over the Circuit House meet. The target of both meetings was the same — the timely completion of the projects.
Even AAP national general secretary Sandeep Pathak had asked the Tinu, Bhagat and Aman Arora to speed up the completion of works in Jalandhar West.
