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Alliance sealed: Now, BJP to face Congress-AAP in fight for Chandigarh mayor’s seat
In major breakthrough for INDIA Bloc, Congress and AAP decide to contest mayoral poll as allies; AAP to keep mayor’s seat, Congress to contest for senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor posts
It’s final. The Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday officially joined hands to inflict defeat on the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) in the January 18 Chandigarh mayoral poll.
Marking the first breakthrough in seat sharing between two constituents of INDIA Bloc since its formation in July 2023, the two parties, bitter political rivals in Delhi and Punjab, decided to contest the Chandigarh mayoral election as allies.
As per the alliance agreement, the mayor will be from AAP, while the posts of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor will go to the Congress.
“The beginning of the end of BJP’s rule will initiate from Chandigarh,” said former Union minister and senior Congress leader Pawan Bansal.
“The AAP-Congress alliance will honour the mandate of the people of Chandigarh. It will also force BJP to sit in opposition in the municipal corporation, rather than pursuing its own agenda,” said Bansal, who is eyeing the Lok Sabha ticket from Chandigarh.
“This is a new start in Indian politics with the Congress and AAP forging an alliance in Chandigarh. Though discussions under the INDIA Alliance in Delhi are ongoing, this is for the first time that the two parties are officially contesting any election together,” said HS Lucky, president of the Chandigarh Congress.
Hours after the official announcement, Congress councillor Jasbir Singh Bunty withdrew his nomination for the post of mayor. AAP councillors Neha Musavat and Poonam Kumar also withdrew their nominations for the senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor posts, respectively.
For the mayor’s post, the fight will now be between AAP’s Kuldeep Dhalor and BJP’s Manoj Sonkar.
Congress and AAP’s 20 votes combined together are almost a certain defeat for the BJP, that has 15 votes in the 35-member MC House, along with ex-officio member MP Kirron Kher’s vote, unless cross-voting dents their numbers.
Congress councillors Gurpreet Singh Gabi and Nirmala Devi will contest for the senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor posts, respectively. The BJP has fielded Kuljeet Sandhu and Rajinder Sharma (ward 35) for the two posts, respectively.
In the third term of current MC, the post of mayor is reserved for a Scheduled Caste councillor.
AAP Chandigarh in-charge Jarnail Singh said, “Together, we will easily win this election and finally, Chandigarh will have a mayor from a party other than the BJP. We have had more councillors since the beginning, but the BJP forcibly and unconstitutionally made their candidates mayors twice. This time they won’t succeed. The BJP has done nothing for the welfare of Chandigarh and its people, but now it will change. With an AAP mayor, Chandigarh will climb new heights of development and public welfare works.”
Meanwhile, Chandigarh BJP president Jatinder Pal Malhotra said, “We will win the polls. We believe in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s supremacy.”
BJP defeat imminent after eight years
If AAP and Congress ensure party-line voting, their 20 votes together are sufficient to trounce the BJP that has held the mayor’s chair for eight years straight.
To be elected, a mayoral candidate must muster at least 19 votes.
At 14, the BJP has the most number of councillors in the 35-member MC House, while AAP comes a close second in strength with 13. The Congress has seven councillors, whereas one councillor is from SAD.
With another vote of local MP and ex-officio member Kirron Kher, BJP has an edge, but not enough to beat Congress and AAP’s conjoined numbers.
However, since the mayor is elected by the councillors through secret ballot, the possibility of cross-voting cannot be ruled out.
The tenure of outgoing mayor Anup Gupta will end on January 16.
No decision on alliance for Lok Sabha yet
As per parties’ Chandigarh wing officials, the alliance between AAP and Congress is so far limited to the local mayoral poll.
“The high commands are still in talks for the Lok Sabha elections and an agreement will be reached soon. We will support each other there too, just to quash the BJP,” said Lucky.
Meanwhile, AAP co-incharge Dr SS Ahluwalia said, “AAP and Congress have reached a mutual understanding for the mayoral poll. Talks for the Lok Sabha seats are still ongoing. People of Chandigarh had chosen AAP in the 2021 MC elections, and now it’s time that we deliver our promises.”
As per sources, while the Congress has conceded the mayor’s seat to AAP, it is intent on the MP ticket for the Lok Sabha elections.
If they do clinch the mayoral elections, the Congress-AAP alliance will have less than three months to spearhead significant development initiatives in Chandigarh to strengthen their position for the Parliamentary seat.
Guidelines for councillors
Ahead of the polls, MC secretary Gurinder Singh Sodhi issued guidelines for the councillors, stating that the process of election of mayor, senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor is to be held by secret ballot without showing the front of ballot paper to any person.
No mobile phone, camera, weapon and any other electronic gadget will be allowed in the voting compartment in assembly hall of Chandigarh MC office during the election process on January 18.
