BJP's Anup Gupta wins Chandigarh mayor election by 1 vote; Cong, SAD abstain

A total of 29 votes were polled of which Gupta got 15, while Singh secured 14. The Congress and SAD abstained from the voting.

Anup Gupta of the Bharatiya Janata Party won the Chandigarh mayor election defeating Aam Aadmi Party's Jasbir Singh Laddi by only one vote margin on Tuesday. A total of 29 votes were polled of which Gupta got 15, while Singh secured 14. The Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal abstained from the voting.

Anup Gupta of BJP with after leaders after being elected as new mayor of Chandigarh on Tuesday. (Keshav Singh/ HT)

Last year too, the BJP won the mayor post of Chandigarh Municipal Corporation by defeating the AAP by just one vote. Both parties got 14 votes each. However, one vote to AAP candidate Anju Katyal was declared invalid, paving the way for BJP's Sarabjit Kaur to occupy the top chair in the corporation.

At present, there are 35 councillors in the Municipal Corporation.

This year, a close fight was expected between the BJP and AAP after the Congress, which has six members and the SAD, which has a lone member, decided to abstain.

Both BJP and AAP have 14 councillors each in the House, while Chandigarh MP, who at present is BJP's Kirron Kher, also has a vote being an ex-officio member of the municipal corporation House.

Kher also cast her vote in the polls. Later in the day, elections will also be held for the post of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor.

This time, the BJP has declared Anup Gupta as its candidate for mayor, while the AAP has declared Jasveer Singh Laddi as its candidate. AAP's Chandigarh president Prem Garg said his councillor is from Ropar as well.