MC chief election decision held back

All 21 members of the council and MLA Harbans Lal of the Congress attended the meeting, out of whom three filed the nomination papers for the post of president. The Congress fielded Naresh Kumar Sharma, the Akalis fielded Gurdev Singh Khalsa 8211; a close associate of PUNSUP chairman, Kipral Singh Libra while the BJP, the coalition partner of the Akali Dal, fielded its own candidate Harwinder Pathak. Naresh and Khalsa got 11 votes each, while the BJP candidate could get only five votes. One vote was rejected.

After the voting, the decision regarding who the president would be was taken through a toss. The Congress won the toss. Meanwhile, some Akali members walked out of the House. Later, Thind told ENS that he had referred the matter to the district returning officer-cum-deputy commissioner for directions. He also said that due to the walkout by the Akali members, the election for the vice-president could not be conducted.