Parveen Kumar Sharma Takes Over as Moga Mayor in Court-Ordered Election
Parveen Kumar Sharma, a senior councillor from the ruling Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab, secured the mayor's position for Moga city on Monday. He won the election with thirty-one votes out of forty-eight cast. Sharma now becomes the third person to hold this post since the last municipal corporation elections in 2021.
Election Follows Suspension of Previous Mayor
The Punjab and Haryana High Court ordered this mayoral poll. It directed the local administration to complete the election process by January 31. This became necessary after the AAP suspended its own leader, Baljit Singh Chani, in November last year. Chani was serving as the Moga mayor at that time.
The party expelled Chani over alleged connections with drug smugglers. An official statement from AAP cited concrete evidence of these links. Chani denied any wrongdoing and claimed he fell victim to dirty politics. He subsequently resigned from the mayor's post.
Smooth Election Process with Video Recording
Moga Deputy Commissioner Sagar Setia supervised Monday's election. He stated that the process unfolded smoothly under the watch of Ferozepur DC Arun Sekhri. Authorities videographed the entire election to ensure transparency.
Forty-seven of the fifty councillors in the Moga Municipal Corporation House attended the session. The local MLA, who serves as an ex-officio member, also participated. The opposition did not field any candidate for the mayor's position. Sharma received thirty-one votes, including support from the MLA, proving his majority comfortably.
Political Shifts Since 2021 Elections
The political landscape in Moga has seen significant changes since 2021. Initially, Congress candidate Nitika Bhalla became the city's first woman mayor after those polls. However, the AAP came to power in Punjab in 2022. This shift triggered a no-confidence motion against Bhalla in the House.
Baljit Singh Chani replaced Bhalla as mayor in August 2023. He won unanimous support from forty-two councillors at that time. Parveen Kumar Sharma, originally with the Congress, later joined the AAP. He served as Moga's senior deputy mayor since 2021. Following Chani's suspension, Sharma took over as officiating mayor before his formal election.
Background of 2021 Municipal Corporation Polls
In the 2021 Moga Municipal Corporation elections, the Congress secured twenty seats out of fifty. The Shiromani Akali Dal won fifteen seats, while Independents captured ten. AAP candidates managed only four seats, and the BJP got just one.
All ten Independents, mostly Congress rebels, later pledged support to the ruling party. This move enabled Nitika Bhalla's election as mayor in May 2021. After AAP's state victory in 2022, around thirty-two councillors switched allegiance to the ruling party. This allowed AAP to install its first mayor in the state.
The recent election of Parveen Kumar Sharma continues this trend of political realignment in Moga's municipal governance.
