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Chandigarh mayor: It’s BJP vs AAP as Congress opts out of race
AAP has fielded Anju Katyal and BJP Sarabjit Kaur, both first-timers, as the mayor’s post is reserved for a woman councillor in the new MC House’s first year
With the Congress opting out of the January 8 Chandigarh mayoral election, the contest for the post will now be between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
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The AAP has fielded Anju Katyal and the BJP Sarabjit Kaur, both first-timers, as the post is reserved for a woman councillor in the new MC House’s first year.
While both candidates filed their nomination papers on Tuesday, the last date to do so, the Congress, which had won only eight of the 35 MC seats, not only opted out of the race, but also announced that it will abstain from voting.
In its debut MC election in Chandigarh, the AAP won 14 seats and the BJP strength was reduced to 12 seats from the 20 it had won in 2016.
The BJP has fielded Dalip Sharma for the post of senior deputy mayor and Anup Gupta for the post of deputy mayor, while the AAP has fielded Prem Lata for the post of senior deputy mayor and Ram Chander Yadav for the post of deputy mayor.
On the selection of candidates, AAP co-in-charge Pardeep Chhabra said, “All our candidates are capable and have qualities for the respective posts. Their names have been decided after reaching consensus.”
Arun Sood, president, Chandigarh BJP, said, “Through our candidates, we have given representation to all sections of society. The mayoral candidate represents the semi-urban and village areas, the senior deputy mayor candidate represents the colonies and EWS areas, and the deputy mayor candidate the city’s sectors.”
A senior party leader, requesting anonymity, said, “With an eye on the forthcoming Punjab elections, BJP had also decided to put up a Jat Sikh face for the mayor’s post.”
Had no time to file nominations, will not vote: Congress
Meanwhile, Congress city chief Subhash Chawla, who is currently in Jaipur, Rajasthan, with the party’s seven councillors, said, “There was no time for us to return to Chandigarh and file the nominations. We got to know about it only late at night. We had also finalised our candidates, but it was not possible to file nominations at such a short notice.”
Chawla further said, “We will not participate in the mayoral elections and will not vote for any party.” The party councillors, though, may come to the House and then leave without casting their votes.
As per a party insider, it is the first time that the Congress has failed to put up a candidate for the mayor’s post. Initially, the party had declared that it would fight for all three posts.
Neck and neck
In the December 24 election, the Congress tally had gone up to eight from four in 2016. However, it lost its ward 10 councillor, Harpreet Kaur Babla, to the BJP after she and her husband, Devinder Singh Babla, joined the saffron fold on Sunday.
Now, in the full House of 36, comprising one vote of the Chandigarh MP and 35 councillors, the BJP and the AAP have 14 votes each, the Congress is left with seven votes and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has one vote.
With the Congress deciding not to participate in the elections, 29 is likely to be the total votes on polling day and the candidates securing the maximum votes will win.
In the absence of an anti-defection law, the councillors are not bound to follow any party diktat for voting.
Meanwhile, amid strong buzz that the SAD’s lone councillor may also skip voting in the election, a party leader said they will take a call in a couple of days. The party councillor, Hardeep Singh, will meet party chief Sukhbir Singh Badal to decide on the issue.
In case Hardeep also abstains, the election might see a tie with both the AAP and the BJP having 14 votes each. Then the candidates will be decided through a draw of lot.
“The possibility of a tie is minimal, if the past history of the mayoral elections is considered. The parties have traditionally failed to keep their flocks together and this time too, the prospects of cross voting remain high. Already allegations of horse-trading have been flying high among all parties,” said a senior Congress leader, requesting anonymity.
On the BJP’s strategy for the election, Sood said, “We will ask the 35 councillors to vote for development and stability, which only the BJP can provide.”
AAP’s Chandigarh president Prem Garg said the party had sought cooperation from everyone, including the Congress and the BJP, to respect the public mandate and let an AAP mayor be elected.
“However, we are not entering into any alliance or seat sharing with any party. Both these parties seem to have joined hands to defeat the AAP nominees through manipulation. But Chandigarh residents are aware citizens and understand such political gimmicks. AAP criticises any type of horse-trading or cross voting.”
