16 Congress counselors join AAP in Amritsar: Join party amid Kejriwal-Bhagwant Mann roadshow, elections in 3 big corporations within 6 months

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which registered its biggest victory in the Punjab Assembly elections in 56 years, dealt a big blow to the Congress in Amritsar on Sunday. 16 Congress councilors of Amritsar Municipal Corporation left the party and joined the Aam Aadmi Party. Amritsar Municipal Corporation Mayor Karmjit Singh Rintu has already left Congress and joined AAP. Elections to Punjab’s three largest municipal corporations Amritsar, Ludhiana and Jalandhar are to be held within six months. In such a situation, after Amritsar, Jalandhar-Ludhiana can also see a similar split within the Congress.

Amritsar Mayor Rintu had joined the Aam Aadmi Party on February 20 during the campaigning for the assembly elections. After that the Congress councilors started a campaign to remove Rintu from the mayor’s chair. The Congress councilors who campaigned against the mayor were from the party’s then MLA and Deputy CM OP Soni, Rajkumar Verka and Navjot Sidhu camp. These councilors had also given notice to Amritsar Municipal Corporation Commissioner Sandeep Rishi to build the house of the Municipal Corporation. Congress councilors demanded that a special session of the house be called to remove Rintu.

On the demand of Congress councilors, Commissioner Sandeep Rishi called a meeting of Amritsar Municipal Corporation House on 21 March. On the other hand, Mayor Karmjit Singh Rintu also started a campaign to break into the Congress party amid the campaign of Congress councillors. The thumping majority given to the Aam Aadmi Party in the assembly election results on March 10 made Rintu’s path easy. On the third day of the election results on Sunday, Rintu managed to bring 16 councilors of Congress to AAP’s court.

Amritsar Municipal Corporation Mayor Karmjit Singh Rintu left the Congress on February 20 and joined the Aam Aadmi Party during the assembly election campaign.

Joining Priyanka Sharma’s house
Rintu chose these Congress councilors to join AAP the same day AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal and the party’s future CM Bhagwant Mann had reached Amritsar to take out a roadshow in the joy of the victory of the Aam Aadmi Party. AAP leader and Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and Aam Aadmi Party’s Punjab affairs in-charge Jarnail Singh got these councilors inducted into AAP at the house of Ward-13 counselor Priyanka Sharma. Priyanka Sharma has already joined the Aam Aadmi Party.

Ward-14 councilor Ashwani Kumar Navi Bhagat and Ward-7 councilor Kajal’s husband were also present but they did not join the Aam Aadmi Party. Navi Bhagat had joined Akali Dal about 2 months back. On the other hand, former minister Dr. Rajkumar Verka kept trying to stop the councilors of the wards falling in the Amritsar West assembly constituency, but the councilors switched off their phones. Ward-13 councilor Rajni Sharma was also preparing to join the Aam Aadmi Party, but Ashwani Pappu, the head of the Amritsar district urban unit of Congress, stopped her and took her away from home.

These councilors joined AAP

Ward-72 councilor Jagdish Kalia, Ward-78’s Sukhbir Singh, Ward-77’s Usha Devgan, Ward-53’s Neetu Tangri, Ward-34’s Satnam Singh and Ward-56’s Pramod Babla are in AAP. joined. Similarly, Pradeep Sharma of Ward-52 in Amritsar North Assembly constituency and Dimple Arora, former Director of Punjab Sewerage Board and Congress candidate from Ward-2 in Municipal Corporation elections also joined Aam Aadmi Party. Jatinder Sonia of Ward-47, Rajesh Madan of Ward-32, Surjit Kaur of Ward-33, Jarnail Singh Bhullar of Ward-44 and Sukhdev Singh Chahal of Amritsar West, who belonged to Amritsar West constituency, also joined the Aam Aadmi Party. Have joined

Jatinder Sonia, the former district urban head of the Congress Party, who left the Congress party and joined the Akali Dal, also joined the AAP. While leaving Congress, Jatinder Sonia had accused Congress President Navjot Sidhu of ignoring the councilors. Now within a month, she left the Akali Dal and joined AAP.

More than 16 councilors attended, can’t name most: Rintu

Amritsar Municipal Corporation Mayor Karmjit Singh Rintu claimed that 16 councilors joined AAP today along with him. However, when the names of these 16 councilors were asked, Rintu said that he cannot name all as 5-6 councilors came later. Rintu claimed that in the coming days some more councilors of Congress and other parties may also join the Aam Aadmi Party.

Called by misguided: Navi Bhagat

Ward-14 councilor Ashwani Kumar Navi Bhagat and Ward-7 councilor Kajal’s husband Bobby Hans said that they were misguided and called to Priyanka Sharma’s house. He did not know that there was any plan to get the councilors included in the Aam Aadmi Party. He had gone to Priyanka Sharma’s house only to have a meeting. When he came to know that many Congress councilors were joining AAP, he came back.

Now the way to remove Rintu from the mayor’s chair is difficult
Many Congress councilors, who are dreaming of replacing Rintu and becoming the Mayor of Amritsar Municipal Corporation, have suffered a major setback due to the latest development. In fact, the way the Congress party suffered a crushing defeat in the assembly elections, after that the Congress councilors started worrying about their future. For this reason 16 councilors of Congress joined AAP. In the coming days, many more councilors leaving the Congress and joining the Aam Aadmi Party cannot be ruled out.