BJP rebellion stemmed ahead of Chandigarh MC polls

On Wednesday, 19 party councillors presented a united front at the BJP city headquarters, Kamalam, in Sector 33

Going by appearances, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seems to have contained the rebellion in the party ahead of the January 8 mayor elections.

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On Wednesday, 19 party councillors presented a united front at the BJP city headquarters, Kamalam, in Sector 33. The 19 councillors in attendance, out of a total 20, included both Chandervati Shukla and Bharat Kumar, who had openly rebelled against the party on January 4, on the last date of filing of nomination papers.

While Shukla had filed nomination papers for mayor’s post, Kumar had walked out of the party in protest over being ignored for any of the three posts of mayor, senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor.

BJP councillor Heera Negi didn’t attend the Wednesday meeting because of poor health.

After the meeting, Gopal Shukla, Chandervati’ husband, said, “We are with the party. The anger was momentary. After detailed discussions with senior party leaders including state BJP chief Arun Sood, our grievances have been resolved. Our vote and support is with the party.”

Despite repeated calls, Kumar failed to respond.

The turnaround among belligerent councillors, it has been learnt, came after Sood met Shukla and Kumar, and pursued them to come back to the party’s fold. “Sood met them at their houses. Organisation secretary Dinesh Kumar and state party in-charge Dushyant Gautam also talked to them. In the case of Shukla, her options had narrowed down after her nomination papers were rejected on Tuesday on technical grounds,” said a senior party leader, requesting anonymity.

Scores yet to be settled

“The choice of candidates for the mayoral elections has left a bitter taste among the councillors, even though only two openly expressed it. With the MC elections due this year in November-December and their tickets at stake, most councillors have decided against openly venting their anger,” said a councillor, who didn’t wish to be named.

There are also personal rivalries that have been accentuated. “Some in the party want to embarrass Sood and can cross vote, others can aim to dent the chances of election of party candidates,” added the councillor.

Meanwhile, the Congress on Wednesday wrote to the UT administrator demanding to not permit phones, cameras, pens, smart watches, etc inside the voting room to avoid clicking/recording of the ballot /vote.

In earlier elections, parties have used pictures of votes casted to ensure no cross voting take place.