Sanjeev Sharma Bittu appointed as Patiala's new Mayor

PATIALA: Much on the expected lines, the Congress on Tuesday instated New Bagh Palace-loyalist and a hard-core Congressman Sanjeev Sharma Bittu as the fifth mayor of the

Patiala Municipal Corporation

(PMC) after the party wiped out the SAD-BJP alliance in the recently-held civic body elections bagging 59 out of 60 seats.



While, Yoginder Singh Yogi, another proponent of the Palace was made the senior deputy Mayor, the Congress took great care in appointing Vinti Sanger as the deputy Mayor making sure that the party does not lose its grip on both the woman and Dalit voter

The new appointments had the stamp of Preneet Kaur, a former union minister for external affairs and wife of

Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh

, who is to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Patiala seat, which she has represented twice before. With the new appointments in the PMC, it has become clear that she has started her preparations for the 2019 general elections.

The name of local entrepreneur and a second-time Councillor from ward no. 42, Sanjeev Sharma Bittu, had been doing the rounds ever since the results of the civic body elections were announced. He has been a close aide of the Palace and has remained associated with the Congress party for around three decades. After serving the party as a worker for the first few years of his political career, Bittu was elected president of the district unit of the Youth Congress in 1996. He was elected Councillor in 2012 and became the leader of the opposition in the PMC in which the strength of the Congress Councillors had been reduced to merely six. Later, he was also made the chairman of the Urban Development Cell of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee.

Meanwhile, Yogi has remained linked to the Congress party for over two decades and it is his first time in the Corporation. His closeness to the Palace became apparent after he was made the chairman of Progressive Punjab Cell by the party leadership a few years back.

Out of the 60 wards in the PMC, 32 fall under the constituency represented by Cabinet minister Brahm Mohindra, while, 26 fall in that of Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and two in Sanour which is now represented by the Akali MLA Harinderpal Singh Chandumajra. Despite, having the maximum number of wards, the Brahm Mohindra camp could not make it to the top slot in the PMC. Brahm Mohindra, who is now considered close to Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, said being the political master of the state it was the prerogative of the Chief Minister to approve the names of the mayor and other functionaries.