The Indian Express              05.06.2013

Panchkula to get its first woman mayor

The Congress is set to elect the first woman Mayor in the city as the names of three Congress-supported candidates have emerged as front runners for the top post.

Among the probable candidates whose names are doing the rounds are Congress-supported candidate from ward no 15, Omwati Puniya, the candidate from ward no 16, Mamta Mittal, and elected candidate from ward no 14, Lily Bawa.

According to Congress sources, the meeting of the party-supported independent candidates will be held in the next few days to announce the name of the candidate for the post of Mayor. The Congress will be electing a Mayor as both INLD and BJP have got only six seats in the elections and have not staked their claim for the post.

Congress MLA D K Bansal said that it is too early to announce the name of the candidate for the post of Mayor. He said that the Congress party will hold a meeting with the elected members to decided on the strategy.

"The Mayor has to be a consensus candidate and we can't thrust the choice," he said. Bansal said that the popularity of the candidate will be a prime factor for electing a Mayor, adding, however that the consensus of the candidates will be reached on a particular name.

However sources said that the Congress is contemplating the name of three of the candidates, Omwati Puniya, Mamta Mittal, and Lily Bawa.

Inside the party, support for Lily Bawa is there as she has done a lot of developmental work, party sources said, adding that she is also wife of an army officer who got killed as part of the Indian peace keeping force (IPKF).

However party sources add that the names of Omwati Puniya and Mamta Mittal are also on top of the list, as both of them have won with a considerable margin.

Puniya defeated Tara Rani Ahuja from BJP by a margin of 1408 votes. Also Mamta Mittal won from ward no 15 by a margin of 827 votes defeating the INLD candidate, Sharanjeet Kaur.