The municipal corporation House on Tuesday deferred the election to two vacant Finance and Contracts Committee (F&CC) seats to August 29 after councillors clashed over the voting mode before unanimously opting for a secret ballot.The ruckus during the General House meeting of municipal corporation in Ludhiana on Tuesday. (Gurpreet Singh/ht)The brief ruckus erupted after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillors sought voting by show of hands, while opposition councillors demanded a secret ballot. The House eventually agreed to conduct the election through secret ballot, with nominations to be filed by 5 pm on Tuesday.The civic body said the decision was taken unanimously after “detailed deliberations” on the election process. Leaders of the opposition Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also gave their consent to secret-ballot voting.The election assumes significance as the two councillor seats in the F&CC have remained vacant after the Punjab and Haryana high court set aside the mayor’s nominations of the sons of two sitting AAP legislators.Congress councillor Gaurav Bhatti, from Ward 26, had challenged the nominations in the court.The court directed the civic body to hold a fair election in the House before September 11. The civic body had subsequently sought an earlier date of August 25, citing pending development works and arguing that a functioning F&CC would help expedite them.AAP has nominated Aman Bagga from Ward 95 and Yuvraj Sidhu from Ward 50 for the two seats. Congress has fielded Bhatti, while the BJP has nominated Ruchi Gulati, councillor from Ward 73.The municipal corporation has 95 wards but currently has 94 councillors. AAP has 41 councillors, Congress 29, BJP 19, Shiromani Akali Dal two and independents three. Congress had 30 councillors after the civic elections, but its Ward 8 councillor died in January 2025, about a month after being elected, leaving the seat vacant.The F&CC comprises the mayor, senior deputy mayor, deputy mayor, MC commissioner and two councillors. The two councillor positions are currently vacant.As per the high court’s directions, Tuesday’s House meeting was conducted under videography. The August 29 election will also be held under videography to ensure transparency.Mayor Inderjit Kaur said, “The decision to conduct elections through secret ballot has been taken unanimously in the general house meeting held on Tuesday. The election through the secret ballot will be conducted in accordance with the Municipal Act, 1976, the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business and the directions of the high court. We are committed to conducting fair and transparent elections.”