Ludhiana, April 20 -- With the West assembly by-election just around the corner, the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation (MC) has fast-tracked a flurry of development projects, clearing more than 500 works in just one month. Over 50% of these projects fall under the West constituency where Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora is contesting. The approvals were granted during the last three meetings of the Finance and Contract Committee (F&CC), signalling a major infrastructure push just before the expected announcement of the poll schedule.

The development works mainly include re-carpeting of roads, installation of interlocking tiles, tubewell setups and park maintenance. Residents say they have never seen such urgency before....