Aggarwal elected LMC leader of opposition

Hemraj Aggarwal, a councillor from ward number 27, was elected the leader of opposition in Ludhiana Municipal Corporation at a meeting of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee held in Chandigarh on Monday.

For the first time, the leader was elected through secret ballot. "Captain Amarinder Singh wanted that the person who enjoys the support and confidence of maximum colleagues should be the leader, and to ensure this, elections were held," said a Congress member.

However, it is being alleged that the decision was taken after the party was unable to elect its leader of opposition as the rift was wide open between Pawan Diwan, president, District Congress Committee (urban), and Bharat Bhushan Ashoo, MLA, Ludhiana (west), after the Assembly elections this year.

"Pawan Diwan was being offered the ticket of the seat from where Ashoo fought. It was only after Ashoo created an uproar and demanded justice that his ticket was returned to him. The ticket was returned but that started the rift between the two senior leaders," said a Congress member on condition of anonymity.

Reportedly, Ashoo's wife Mamta Ashoo, a councillor, did not go to Chandigarh for voting as they never wanted Hemaraj to win the elections.

Another councillor, Maharaj Singh Raji, too skipped the elections as he was out of the country.

Out of the total 19 votes, Hemraj got 11 votes as six councillors ''opted not to vote saying decision of Captain will be acceptable to them'' and two were absent. Rakesh Parashar was elected senior deputy leader of opposition and Sushma Mehta as deputy leader of opposition.

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