The city of Moga has elected its Mayor from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the becoming the first city in Punjab to do so. Councillor Baljit Singh Channi from Ward No. 8 was elected the mayor of the Moga Municipal Corporation on Monday. Councillor Channi is a social worker and repairs vehicles as his day job.
Baljit Singh Channi was unanimously elected mayor by all councillors of the Moga municipal body. The election took place at 10 am in the District DC Complex on Monday. In this, along with the councillors of 50 wards, Dr Amandeep Kaur Arora, an MLA from Moga, along with all administrative officers of the district were present. Forty-two councillors supported Councillor Channi, out of 50 corporators. In total, he received 67 votes from administrators.
Baljit Singh Channi belongs to a Sikh family and is married with a son and daughter. For their livelihood, Baljit Singh—now mayor—runs a vehicle painting workshop on GT Road. Along with this, he has been a social worker for the last 25 years. Sometimes he cremates unclaimed dead bodies and sometimes he takes the injured to the hospital.
Channi is often accompanied by his wife during such situations. An emotional Baljit Singh Channi spoke to the media after the election results were announced and thanked the Aam Aadmi Party and said that his wife has contributed a lot in his life. “I have been doing social service for 25 years, be it day or night. Whenever I got information about the accident, I used to leave. My wife never stopped me either. Today I have gotten the fruit of that service. He also said that he has “always been working for the people and will continue to do so.”
