Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Vinaypal Kaur, 41, was elected Mayor of Moga on Thursday, becoming only the second woman to hold the post after Congress leader Nikita Bhalla.

A homemaker and first-time councillor, Vinaypal Kaur was elected from Ward No. 8 in the recent Municipal Corporation elections. The mayoral post was reserved for the Backward Classes category.

In the elections to the 50-member Moga Municipal Corporation, the results of which were declared on May 29, AAP secured a clear majority with 30 seats. Congress and Independents won seven seats each, while the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the BJP won three seats each.

In Thursday’s mayoral election, Vinaypal Kaur received 42 votes in the House. Moga Municipal Corporation Commissioner Gurwinder Singh Johal said AAP MLA Amandeep Kaur Arora also exercised her vote as per the rules.

Vinaypal Kaur defeated former Mayor Baljit Singh Chani of the Congress in her debut councillor election. Chani, who had earlier joined AAP and served as Mayor, was later expelled by the party over alleged links with drug smugglers.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Vinaypal Kaur said she holds a B.Sc. (Medical) degree from a university in Himachal Pradesh and a diploma in computer applications.

“My father, originally from Bathinda, settled in Himachal Pradesh while working in the textile sector. After marriage, I moved to Moga, where I have been a homemaker and mother to two children. My husband runs a trucking business,” she said.

On entering politics, she said: “It was more of God’s plan. My brother-in-law has been associated with AAP for several years and I was impressed by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s policies. I decided to contest the councillor election and won. The entire city is now like my family, and I will work to address civic issues across all 50 wards irrespective of political affiliations.”

AAP MLA Amandeep Kaur Arora said the mayoral election reflected the party’s growing support in the city.

“For the first time, a Mayor has been elected with such an overwhelming majority in Moga. Besides our 30 councillors, Independents and SAD councillors also supported us,” she said.

Fifth Mayor since 2015

Vinaypal Kaur is the fifth Mayor of Moga since the Municipal Corporation was constituted in 2011 and its first elections were held in 2015.

Akshit Jain, son of former SAD MLA Joginder Pal Jain, became the city’s first Mayor after the 2015 elections.

In the 2021 civic polls, the Congress emerged as the single largest party with 20 seats but fell short of a majority. SAD won 15 seats, AAP four, BJP one and Independents seven. Subsequently, Independent councillors extended support to the Congress, paving the way for Nikita Bhalla to become Moga’s first woman Mayor.

After AAP came to power in Punjab in 2022, a no-confidence motion removed Bhalla from office as several Congress councillors joined the ruling party. She was replaced by Baljit Singh Chani, who became AAP’s first Mayor in Punjab in 2023.

Chani was later removed by AAP after the party claimed to have evidence linking him to drug traffickers. He was replaced by Parveen Kumar Sharma alias Peena in January this year. Sharma did not contest the latest municipal elections.