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Parveen Kumar Sharma is new Moga Mayor; third to hold post since 2021 polls to civic body
The mayoral poll was necessitated after the AAP suspended its leader Baljit Singh Chani, who was serving as the Moga mayor, in November last year over alleged links with drug smugglers.
New Moga mayor Parveen Kumar Sharma (right) with AAP MLA Dr Amandeep Kaur Arora. (Express photo)
Aam Aadmi Party’s Parveen Kumar Sharma, alias Peena, was elected as the mayor of Moga city on Monday, in the process becoming the third person to helm the post since 2021 when the elections to the municipal corporation.
Sagar Setia, Deputy Commissioner (DC), Moga, said the election was “held smoothly” under the supervision of Ferozepur DC Arun Sekhri, and the entire process was “video-recorded.”
“Of the 50 councillors, 47 were present and one vote was of the local MLA, who is an ex-officio member of the House. Sharma got 30 votes, including 29 of councillors and one of the MLA, and proved his majority. One councillor was appointed presiding officer while 17 others walked out,” said Setia.
The Opposition including SAD, Congress and BJP did not participate in the election and presented no candidate for the mayor’s post, said Setia.
The mayoral election was held on the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court which directed the local administration to get the new mayor elected by January 31. The mayoral poll was necessitated after the AAP suspended Baljit Singh Chani, who was serving as the Moga mayor, in November last year. The AAP later expelled Chani from the party for alleged “links with drug smugglers”. He then resigned from the post.
Chani was the first AAP leader to be elected mayor in any civic body in Punjab. He had replaced Congress’ Nitika Bhalla in 2023 after she lost a no confidence motion. Bhalla held the distinction of being the city’s first woman mayor.
Sharma, a senior councillor, was earlier with the Congress and later moved to the AAP. Since 2021, he has been serving as senior deputy mayor and, after Chani’s suspension, was elevated as the officiating mayor.
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In the 2021 Moga Municipal Corporation polls, the Congress had won 20 of the 50 seats. While the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) had won 15 seats, another 10 had been bagged by Independents. AAP candidates had won four seats and the BJP one. Later, all 10 Independents announced their support to Congress, leading to Bhalla’s election as the mayor in May 2021.
After the AAP came to power in 2022, 32 councillors joined the party paving the way for it to have its first mayor.
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