Jalandhar, July 9 -- In a surprising political turnaround marked by cross-voting, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday wrested the Kapurthala mayor's chair despite the Congress having registered a thumping victory in the May 29 civic polls.

AAP's Narinder Singh Manso, a three-time councillor, was elected mayor, while Kamakshi Duggal and Sameer Sharma were elected senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor, respectively.

Manso becomes Kapurthala's third mayor since the municipal corporation was formed in 2019, with the city's first two mayors having been from the Congress. The election was conducted through a show of hands under the supervision of the divisional commissioner.

In the municipal corporation elections, the Congress had emerged ...