SAD quits NDA: BJP no more main opposition party in Ludhiana MC

With changing political scenario after the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) snapped ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over farm bills, the latter has lost the tag of the main opposition party in the MC general house.

Earlier, the SAD-BJP alliance had 21 councillors, but now SAD has 11 councillors while the BJP has 10 councillors. The BJP, however, claims the support of an independent councillor Parvinder Kaur.

While the Congress holds a majority in the general house with 64 councillors, Lok Insaaf Party (LIP) stands at fourth position with seven councillors. Of the total 95, there are three independent councillors in the city.

With this, there seems to be uncertainty over who will retain the position of the leader of opposition in the MC general house.

With the SAD claiming to be the main opposition party, the BJP leaders said that they will conduct a party meeting in the coming days to discuss the issue.

SAD district president, Ranjit Singh Dhillon and current leader of opposition in the MC house, councillor Harbhajan Singh Dang said, “SAD has 11 councillors and the party will retain the tag of the opposition party as BJP has 10 councillors and the vote of the independent candidate will not be counted.”

Dhillon said, “The BJP would soon see the implications of SAD pulling out of the alliance and they will witness a downfall in the coming time.”

BJP district president, Pushpinder Singal, however, said that BJP has 11 councillors in the house as independent councillor Parvinder Kaur is also a part of their party.

“We will soon conduct a party meeting to discuss different issues including the leader of opposition in the MC general house and nothing has been decided till now.”

This division will benefit Congress as it will not have a strong opposition in the general house.

Mayor Balkar Sandhu said, “Leader of opposition would be announced after both parties give in writing the number of councillors in their party’s support.”

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