Ambala City MC mayor post vacant after Shakti Rani Sharma’s election as Kalka MLA

AMBALA: With the election of sitting Ambala City Municipal Corporation (MC) Mayor Shakti Rani Sharma as BJP MLA from the Kalka constituency in Panchkula district, the post of Mayor has become vacant. The Ambala City MC house still has about 15 months of pending tenure, and the election of a new mayor is important to ensure the smooth functioning of the civic body.
Shakti Rani Sharma was elected mayor of Ambala City MC in December 2020 on the ticket of the Haryana Jan Chetna Party (HJCP). Recently, ahead of the state assembly elections, HJCP leader Venod Sharma, Shakti’s husband, has given full support to the BJP in all seats in Haryana, especially in the northern Haryana region. Shakti joined the BJP on September 1 of last month, was given a BJP ticket to contest from Kalka, and she defeated Congress’s sitting MLA Pardeep Chaudhary by 10,883 votes.
Earlier, in October 2014, Shakti Rani contested from the Kalka assembly seat on the HJCP ticket but was badly defeated. Now, after 10 years, she has achieved victory from Kalka.
Ambala-based Punjab and Haryana High Court Advocate Hemant Kumar, citing Section 8A of the Haryana MC Act, 1994, said, “The Mayor or member of any MC in the state cannot simultaneously hold the positions of Mayor and member of the assembly or Parliament. If a person is elected to the state legislative assembly or Parliament while being the Mayor or member of the MC, then from the date of being declared elected as an MLA or MP, he/she will no longer be the Mayor or member of the MC.”
He stated that as per this provision, Shakti Rani cannot be mayor of Ambala City MC from the date of her election as Kalka MLA, i.e., October 8. “There is no need for her to formally resign from the post of Mayor. Like Ambala, Sonipat MC Mayor Nikhil Madan has also been elected as MLA from the Sonipat assembly seat on a BJP ticket,” said Advocate Hemant Kumar.
Hemant explained that since direct elections have been conducted by the voters of the respective corporation area for the MC mayor since 2018, the indirect election of a new mayor cannot be done from among the 20 elected members of the existing Ambala MC for the remaining 15-month period, i.e., until January 2026.
“However, if the state government wishes, it can write to the Haryana State Election Commission to hold a by-election for the remaining term of the Ambala MC Mayor, especially since the remaining term is more than six months. Until a regular Mayor is elected, the acting charge of the MC Mayor's post can be given to an outgoing female MC member from the current house,” said Advocate Hemant Kumar.
Regarding whether the charge of the Mayor can also be given to the current senior deputy mayor Meena Dhingra, Hemant noted that it depends on the state government’s urban local bodies department.
Hemant believes that there is very little possibility that the state government would write to the State Election Commission and request a by-election for the remaining 15-month term of the Ambala MC mayor.