Amritsar mayoral race heads for photo finish

A close contest is expected between the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the Amritsar mayoral elections scheduled to be held on January 27.

- Surjit Singh

AMRITSAR:

Besides the mayor, the senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor will also be elected following the oath-taking ceremony of the newly elected councillors.

The Congress emerged as the single-largest party in the House, winning 40 out of 85 seats. With five MLAs from the Amritsar's urban segment also having voting rights the total strength of the House goes up to 90 and the Congress is six short of the majority mark of 46. It has managed to secure the support of one of the eight independent councillors so far taking its tally to 41. Infighting in the Congress over its mayoral candidate has also hampered its chances of forging alliances to get past the majority mark.

AAP, which has 24 councillors, on the other hand, is counting on the support of its five MLAs from urban segments - Amritsar Central, Amritsar North, Amritsar South, Amritsar East and Amritsar West.

Besides, as per AAP leaders they have managed to secure the support of seven of the eight independent councillors, while two of the nine BJP councillors have also extended support to the incumbent party in the state. With this AAP's strength has increased to 38.

This leaves seven BJP and four Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) councillors in the open who will most likely be the kingmakers on the day of mayoral polls.

Further, there is confusion over whether the MLAs from the Jandiala Guru and Attari constituencies will also be allowed to vote. Both areas fall under the MC jurisdiction but traditionally the legislators have not voted in mayoral polls.