Patiala and Amritsar on Tuesday get the new mayors. While Sanjeev Bittu was named as Patiala Mayor, Karamjit Singh Rintu was named Amritsar’s Mayor.
After elections to the three municipal corporations of Patiala, Amritsar and Jalandhar on December 17, the two newly-elected Houses of Patiala and Amritsar civic body elected its office bearers on Tuesday. Jalandhar civic body is scheduled to elect its office bearers on January 25.
Congress’ Yoginder Singh Yogi and Vinti Sanger were named Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Patiala civic body. All three top office bearers are from Patiala Urban Assembly segment and are close to former Union Minister and Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh’s wife Preneet Kaur.
Newly-elected mayor Bittu has been the Leader of Opposition during the previous SAD-BJP House.
In Amritsar, Raman Bakshi was named as Senior Deputy Mayor, and Younis Kumar as Deputy Mayor.
Notably, Rintu had unsuccessfully contested the assembly elections from Amritsar North in 2012 against BJP’s Anil Joshi. In 2017, he failed to secure the party ticket. But, it has been learnt that the state leadership had promised Rintu of an important role in MC which was promised with his elevation as Mayor.
Jalandhar Municipal Corporation, which would elect its office bearers on Thursday, five-time councillor Jagdish Raj Raja is tipped to become the Mayor.
Raja has twice been the Leader of the Opposition in the MC House. His first win in 1991 was an independent candidate. Raja did not contest 2002 elections, when his wife Anita Raja became the Senior Deputy Mayor. Later, the couple won in 2012.