Amid murmurs of rift, Congress, AAP begin talks ahead of mayoral polls

Notably, till January 4, no formal meeting had taken place between the Congress and the AAP leaders, leading to resentment in the Congress camp

Amid growing speculations of a rift in the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) alliance in Chandigarh, senior leaders from both parties have initiated official meetings to strategise for the upcoming mayoral elections.

The Chandigarh mayoral polls are scheduled in January, but no date has been announced yet. (HT)

Chandigarh Congress president HS Lucky confirmed the development, stating, “The talks have started and are moving in a positive direction. However, we have yet to finalise any candidate. A meeting of alliance councillors and leaders will be held soon to discuss and finalise our approach.”

Notably, till January 4, no formal meeting had taken place between the Congress and the AAP leaders, leading to resentment in the Congress camp.

On last January 3, Congress councillors, who had turned up to attend current AAP mayor Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor’s tea party, had left abruptly following a call from the local leadership, signalling a possible discord between the two INDIA bloc partners.

Congress councillors had said, “We were called back to the Congress Bhawan for a meeting. It seems the senior leadership is unhappy with the AAP. Talks for mayoral elections usually starts in December but they showed no interest in holding meetings, or selecting candidate with mutual understanding or the strategy.”

In contrast, the BJP has only 15 votes and is relying on cross-voting or defection of INDIA bloc councillors to tip the balance in its favour. In the 2024 polls, Dhalor was appointed as Chandigarh mayor by the Supreme Court in the aftermath of the Anil Masih ballot-tampering fiasco, becoming the first non-BJP and non-Congress mayor of Chandigarh.

Internal dissent in AAP?

Signs of internal discord appeared within the AAP as two of its councillors skipped a crucial party meeting on Monday. This development follows their absence from two significant events last week—Mayor Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor’s official tea party and a councillors’ trip to Sukhna Lake on Friday.

The councillors’ actions could indicate dissatisfaction or potential shifts in allegiance, raising questions about the party’s unity ahead of the mayoral polls. Notably, these AAP’s councillors had also rejected their appointments as party’s office-bearers last week. Party insiders said the councillors were feeling sidelined and were unhappy over the halted development works in the city despite party’s own mayor.