The Indian Express               05.07.2013

Ahluwalia is Panchkula’s first woman Mayor

Upinder Kaur Ahluwalia with supporters in Panchkula on Thursday.

In the election for the post of Panchkula Municipal Corporation (PMC) Mayor that was held on Thursday, bickerings within the Congress came to fore, as the party failed to reach a consensus on the candidate for the post. In the elections, Upendar Ahluwalia, a supporter of Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, emerged the winner, after she defeated Congress-supported Independent candidate Krishan Lamba, by a margin of four votes. However, in the elections, BJP and INLD candidates voted for Congress-supported candidates, who were in the fray.

In the election that was held through secret ballot, Ahluwalia got 12 votes, while Lamba could manage only eight votes. Ahluwalia, who is the first woman Mayor of the city, said she would work for the development of the city.

Congress MLA from Panchkula, D K Bansal, said that Ahluwalia's victory was a major win for the party. He, however, added that the Congress couldn't reach a consensus, as the party had not contested the elections on its symbol. "The BJP and INLD members who voted for the Congress-supported candidates were earlier associated with the party," Bansal said.

However, what was peculiar in the election was that neither the BJP, nor the INLD put up any of their candidates against the Congress-supported candidates. INLD had earlier decided to field Satinder Singh from ward number 4, but later the party withdrew its decision, and three of its candidates voted for the Congress-supported Independent candidate. INLD city chief Manoj Agarwal said that party workers were allowed to vote as per their conscience.

BJP district president Vishal Seth, however, said that the party didn't put up its own candidate, as it didn't have the required numbers. "We didn't want to indulge in horse-trading the way Congress does," he said.

Before votes were cast, the candidature of Ahluwalia was proposed by Congress-supported independent candidates, Omwati Puniya and Somnath, while Lamba's name was proposed by Lily Bawa, Bhawna Gupta and Mamta Rani.

"Corporation meetings will be held on a regular basis and funds won't be an issue for us," Ahluwalia said. She has been the member of the Panchkula Municipal Council twice.