Ludhiana: In a joint show of strength ahead of a crucial court hearing, 45 councillors from Congress, BJP, and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) submitted a resolution to mayor Inderjit Kaur, demanding that elections for two members of the Finance and Contracts Committee (F&CC) be held through a secret ballot.The resolution urges the mayor to include the secret ballot proposal in the agenda of the upcoming MC House meeting. The councillors emphasised that as the F&CC is the highest decision-making body for civic financial matters, development works, tenders, and contracts, its selection process must be completely fair, transparent, and democratic to maintain public confidence.The move comes directly ahead of an August 7 hearing in the Punjab and Haryana high court regarding a civil writ petition filed by councillor Gaurav Bhatti. Earlier court proceedings had resulted in the cancellation of two F&CC appointments made by the local govt department, leaving the positions vacant. Opposition members indicated that Bhatti may submit this joint resolution during the legal proceedings to demonstrate widespread support for secret balloting.Senior Congress councillor Sham Sundar Malhotra stated that the civil writ petition filed by councillor Gaurav Bhatti in the court is still under consideration. Following the HC proceedings, the appointment of two members of the F&CC by the local govt department has been cancelled, but the process of electing new members for those posts is still pending.Apart from the secret ballot, the resolution demands that advance notice be issued to all eligible councillors, the entire voting process be videographed, and vote counting be conducted with total transparency.
