Congress candidates at various places are complaining that their nomination papers are being rejected on frivolous grounds. But at Mullanpur four Congress candidates withdrew their papers and joined the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). Out of 13 seats of the Mullanpur Nagar Council,a straight fight is left in only nine seats. From one ward,Congresss Ravinderpal took his papers back to support Harpreet of SAD while Sukhbir Kaur,SAD candidate from ward number 3,has gotten support from Congresss Leela Devi as she refused to contest from this ward. Amit Kumar and Sarabjot Kaur from wards 4 and 9 are the other SAD candidates against whom their rival Congress candidates Anil Kumar Jain and Baljeet Kaur have taken their papers back. All the covering candidates have also taken their papers back. The candidates also went to meet MLA Manpreet Ayali on Monday and announced that they have now joined SAD and have no plans to contest the Nagar Council elections. Interestingly,it was only a few days ago that these candidates were campaigning against the SAD after the party high command had declared them the official candidates. Ayali stated that Congress workers are also feeling disheartened by the overall image of the party and,hence,they are taking their papers back to support the Shiromani Akali Dal. It is a big blow to the Congress high command,he noted.
