The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won the Chandigarh mayor elections on Tuesday by defeating the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-Congress alliance. The mayoral poll was the first clash between BJP and the opposition INDIA bloc before the Lok Sabha elections.
The BJP's Manoj Sonkar got 16 votes, while AAP's Kuldeep Kumar (backed by the Congress) got just 12. As many as 8 votes were declared "invalid". The Congress and AAP alleged that the presiding authority for the election, nominated councillor Anil Masih, who was once the BJP's minority cell office-bearer, declared votes invalid in a "premeditated manner". They also accused the BJP of running away with the ballot papers and tearing them.
The BJP also won the senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor posts, winning 16-0, as the AAP and Congress, protesting over the mayor election, stayed away. The BJP has fielded Kuljeet Sandhu and Rajinder Sharma for these posts, respectively.
The Chandigarh mayoral elections are seen as a litmus test for the INDIA bloc, with the Congress and AAP forging an alliance to challenge the BJP's stronghold on the mayor's office over the past eight years. Under the alliance, AAP was vying for the mayor's position, while the Congress was putting forth candidates for senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor roles.
With the BJP holding 14 out of 35 seats in the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation and MP Kirron Kher enjoying voting rights as an ex-officio member, the political landscape is poised for a significant shift if the opposition manages to secure victory. AAP, boasting 13 councillors, and Congress, with seven, were leveraging their combined strength to mount a challenge against the ruling BJP. Shiromani Akali Dal, with one councillor, was also a minor player in the electoral equation.
To ensure smooth conduct of the polls, approximately 800 police personnel, supplemented by paramilitary forces, were deployed, with a three-layer barricade encircling the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation premises.
The Chandigarh mayoral elections were originally planned for January 18, but were postponed to February 6 by the Chandigarh administration after the presiding officer fell ill and due to an assessment of the law-and-order situation. However, the Punjab and Haryana High Court directed the Union Territory administration to hold the mayoral polls on January 30.