The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is about to get its first mayor in Punjab as Nitika Bhalla of the Congress was ousted from the publish within the Moga Municipal Corporation after she misplaced a no-confidence movement within the House assembly on Tuesday.

In the 50-member House, 41 councillors, led by Moga MLA Dr Amandeep Kaur Arora, voted in favor of the no-confidence movement. Bhalla received the help of solely six councillors. Two councilors remained absent.

Of the 41 councillors, 32 are from the AAP and 9 are from different events who prolonged help to the ruling occasion.

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On June 7, 42 councilors signed a no-confidence movement in opposition to Bhalla and submitted it to the MC joint commissioner. Last week, the councillors submitted one other no-confidence movement in opposition to senior deputy mayor Parveen Kumar Sharma, deputy mayor Ashok Dhamija and the finance and contract committee (F&CC).

Moga MC commissioner Poonam Singh mentioned that the decision for the no-confidence movement in opposition to Bhalla was handed, whereas the no-confidence movement in opposition to the senior deputy mayor and the deputy mayor was rejected. “In the primary assembly at 7.30am, solely seven councillors, together with Bhalla, participated. The quorum was not full as solely seven councilors had been current. As a two-thirds majority is required, the mayor rejected the no-confidence movement in opposition to the senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor, so it was not made a part of at this time’s agenda. During the second assembly, voting was carried out on a no-confidence movement in opposition to the mayor,” she said.

Ward number 42 councilor Gaurav Gupta, who had won the election on the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) symbol, is the frontrunner for the top civic body post. He joined the AAP only last month.

In 2021, the Moga Municipal Corporation elections were held for 50 wards. The Congress had bagged 20 seats, while the SAD had won 15. Another 10 seats were won by Independents, while four were won by the AAP and one by the BJP. Ten independents had supported then ruling Congress and Bhalla was elected first woman mayor of Moga.

Since the AAP won the assembly elections, 32 councilors from the Congress, the SAD and the BJP have joined the AAP, taking the official count for the party to 36.

Huge victory, says AAP MLA

AAP MLA Dr Arora said: “The AAP won 41 out of 50 votes in the Moga Municipal Corporation. It is a huge victory. Soon Moga Municipal Corporation will get new AAP mayor. Big Congratulations to all AAP for huge win.

“There is talk of some names in the city but nothing is finalized yet. The party will hold a discussion with all councilors in consultation with local MLAs and after that the high command will decide on the name of the new mayor,” she mentioned.

Bhalla mentioned: “I’m grateful to all those that supported me throughout my tenure. It shouldn’t be over but, I’ll meet everybody and get again to the identical place very quickly. I’ve completed all the pieces for the event of town and my tenure has been clear. Not a single allegation has been leveled in opposition to me.

By taking up the management of Moga MC, the ruling AAP has taken a step in direction of gaining management over civic our bodies within the state. The subsequent plan is more likely to take over the Kotkapura municipal council because the AAP has already turn out to be the only largest occasion with the becoming a member of of 11 councillors, within the 29-member House.