Mother of ‘highest bidder’ wins in Gidderbaha village

At Kothe Cheedian Wale village in the Gidderbaha Assembly segment, where an alleged auction was held for the post of sarpanch a few days ago, Jaspal Kaur, mother of Jagmail Singh, alias Amrik Singh, who had allegedly made the highest bid of Rs 35.5 lakh, emerged winner yesterday.

Jaspal Kaur (65) polled 538 votes, while her rival candidate Jaswinder Kaur could get just 26. Unlike other villages, no candidate distributed any publicity material. Further, all five members of the panchayat were elected unopposed.

Referring to a video that went viral a few days ago showing alleged betting amongst villagers for the post of the village head, Jaspal Kaur, an illiterate, said, “The video had nothing to do with any bidding. It was just an announcement to collect money for development in the village and beautification of our gurdwara.”

She said, “The village has approximately 1,000 acres of agricultural land. A few years ago, residents of the village had passed a resolution that they would contribute Rs 500 per acre per crop for the development of the village and beautification of the gurdwara.”