Suspended from AAP, former Nabha MC chief to contest as independent

Patiala: Former Nabha Municipal Council president Sujata Chawla, who was suspended from the Aam Aadmi Party along with her husband Pankaj Kumar Pappu, is set to contest as an independent candidate from Ward No. 22 in the May 26 Punjab local body elections.Chawla's political journey was marked by party switches, protests, a no-confidence motion, mass resignations by councillors and police cases against her husband. The couple claimed they held no bitterness towards AAP and would seek votes on the basis of development work carried out during her tenure. They claimed to have resigned from party following opposition's attempt to damage the party's image based on false allegations against them.Chawla claimed she first won as councillor on a BJP ticket, later won the 2021 civic polls on a Congress ticket, and subsequently joined AAP ahead of the Assembly elections. She was later unanimously elected president of the Nabha Municipal Council in the presence of Nabha AAP MLA Gurdev Singh Dev Mann.Her tenure came under a cloud after the March 19, 2025 police crackdown on farmers protesting at the Shambhu and Khanauri borders for over a year, where Punjab police cleared protest sites after detaining members of farmer organisations. Farmers later alleged that several tractor-trailers and equipment had gone missing.The controversy reached Nabha when farmer union BKU Ekta Azad protested and accused Pappu of stealing parts of two missing tractor-trailers, following which Nabha police registered a case involving theft, receiving stolen property, destruction of evidence, and criminal conspiracy. The matter escalated when police recovered suspected tractor-trailer parts first from Pappu's workshop in Aug and later in Nov from the official residence of Nabha Executive Officer Gurcharan Singh, which the EO said was occupied by Pappu despite repeated notices to vacate. Pappu denied the farmers' allegations, calling them politically motivated and claiming evidence may have been planted. Two FIRs were currently registered against him at Nabha Sadar and Kotwali police stations. Pappu was out on bail.Following the recoveries, 17 of 23 councillors moved a no-confidence motion against Chawla. Several councillors from AAP, Congress, and SAD publicly withdrew support, citing damage to the council's image and solidarity with protesting farmers. However, before the motion could be tabled, MLA Dev Mann announced he had accepted Chawla's resignation, effectively halting the process.The political crisis deepened when some councillors submitted mass resignations demanding her removal, following which the senior vice-president later took charge as acting council president after Chawla proceeded on leave in August.Confident of retaining her ward, Chawla said, "A lot of developmental work has been carried out in my ward during my tenure as MC chief and people will ensure our victory. We resigned from AAP after opposition took milage of false allegations against us and damaged image of MLA, CM and the party. We have no grievances against AAP". MSID:: 131137945 413 |