Kang to contest as Independent

Kang’s name was proposed by nominated councillor Dr A P Sanwaria and seconded by councillor Pallav Mukherjee. Accompanied by these two councillors,besides his supporters,Kang came to the office of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation to file his nomination.

Kang has been a part of the Congress for around 30 years. He was among the prospective candidate for the post apart from Ravinder Singh Pali,whose name was finalised by the party in a meeting held on Monday. The other prospective candidates included councillors Chander Mukhi Sharma and Devinder Singh Babla. While Sharma was the senior most among the candidates,Kang’s family was known to have close ties with Union Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal.

Filing his nomination,Kang said he decided to contest as an Independent because he was “fed up with the people” surrounding him,who he said did not merit the opportunities given to them. He alleged that certain councillors in the civic body were corrupt and had he been given a chance to contest he would have ensured the corrupt practices were checked.

Nominated councillors extend support

The nominated councillors are making attempts to turn the tide against the Congress. With there being 16 Congress councillors in the House and the one vote of Union Minister Pawan Bansal,the Congress did not need much support to win the election. The Opposition BJP has,meanwhile,only 10 councillors.

But the nine nominated councillors can change things for the Congress. Resentment could be seen among them during the House Meet on Monday. It is for the first time that the nominated councillors have proposed the name of a candidate.

Councillor Dr A P Sanwaria said: “For the last four years,the nominated councillors have faced a lot of humiliation. Issues raised by us have never been taken seriously. We hope Kang will remove that. When we asked for development fund on the lines of what given to the elected representatives,the demand was unanimously rejected.”

Councillor Pallav Mukherjee said Kang approached him for support and he promised to do so. “In the last four years I have seen corruption in the system. The estimates are passed without any debate. Exorbitant rates are quoted for every work. We hope that a change is brought about in the system by Kang.”

Another councillor said the Congress never consulted them,as had been done in the past,about the candidate they were selecting. Seniority was given a go-by and it seemed that merit was not considered either.