‘Politically motivated case’: Mohali mayor defends self before Local Bodies dept

Speaking to The Indian Express on Tuesday, Mayor Sidhu confirmed that he had appeared before the Punjab minister and had put forth his point.

Sidhu said that he told the minister that during his tenure, a total of 900 work orders had been passed, out of which 12 were allotted to Amritpreet Cooperative Society Limited. He further said that he had passed work orders worth around Rs 200 crore, of which Amritpreet Cooperative Society Limited had been allotted work of only Rs. 1.45 crore.

Punjab’s Local Bodies Department had asked the mayor to appear before it on December 20 in connection to the case last week.

The councillors of Mohali on August 10 lodged a complaint to the Principal Secretary of Local Bodies Department, alleging that Sidhu had favoured a housing society, Amritpreet Cooperative Society Limited.

The department had subsequently issued a show cause notice to the mayor in September this year and asked him to file his reply within 15-days. In his reply on October 14, the mayor had called the complaint against him ‘politically motivated’and sought time for personal hearing in the case.

Mayor Amarjeet, and his elder brother and former Cabinet minister Balbir Singh Sidhu had joined the BJP earlier this year and had claimed the support of a majority of Congress councillors in the House despite the switch.

At present the Congress has 37 councillors out of a total strength of 50. The AAP has 10 councillors while three are Independents.