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Chandigarh mayoral polls: AAP in HC for polling through show of hands
On January 3, an AAP delegation, led by mayor Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor, had met Chandigarh deputy commissioner (DC) Nishant Kumar Yadav and submitted a memorandum with the same request
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday moved the Punjab and Haryana high court seeking directions to the Chandigarh administration to take steps for transparency in poll process during the January 24 mayoral polls.
AAP councillor from Ward number 25 and party spokesperson Yogesh Dhingra filed a plea on Thursday, demanding that in place of voting by secret ballots, polling be done by “show of hands”.
On January 3, an AAP delegation, led by mayor Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor, had met deputy commissioner (DC) Nishant Kumar Yadav and submitted a memorandum with the same request.
Through the memorandum, the party had apprised the DC that during the 341st meeting of the General House of the Chandigarh municipal corporation, held on October 29, 2024, it was resolved by majority vote that Regulation 6 of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation (Procedure and Conduct of Business) Regulations, 1996, be amended.
The resolution proposed that the elections for the posts of mayor, senior deputy mayor, and deputy mayor be conducted through a show of hands instead of a secret ballot, to ensure a transparent and equitable election process in the future. Subsequently, a similar demand was also raised before UT administrator Gulab Chand Kataria. However, the same has not been accepted so far, the plea before the high court says.
AAP has a sitting mayor in the MC House with the support of the Congress, its INDIA bloc partner. This time also, they are in the process of forging an alliance. However, a formal declaration is awaited.
Currently, the alliance boasts 21 votes in the MC House — 13 from AAP, seven from Congress and one ex-officio vote of MP Manish Tewari. The BJP, on the other hand, has only 15 votes. A party needs 19 votes to win the poll.
2024 poll was marred by rigging
In the 2024 mayoral polls, sitting mayor Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor had initially lost to BJP nominee Manoj Sonkar following vote rigging by presiding officer Anil Masih, which was captured on live camera.
On February 20, the Supreme Court had reversed Masih’s decision to declare the BJP candidate as the winner, noting that eight votes cast in favour of Dhalor were defaced and declared invalid by Masih, who is since facing perjury proceedings.
The election was subsequently nullified by the Supreme Court and Dhalor was announced the winner, leading to the city getting its first non-Congress, non-BJP mayor.
The plea highlights what transpired in the 2024 mayoral polls and underlines the need to change the process of voting to a transparent method. It also seeks directions to install CCTVs, so that entire process is recorded. The petition is likely to be listed for hearing next week.
Congress to meet today to chalk out strategy
The leaders of the Chandigarh unit of the Congress will hold a key party meeting on Friday, in the presence of MP Manish Tewari, to strategise the party’s plan ahead of the upcoming mayoral elections. “Our alliance with AAP is intact and we will also discuss the candidates for the three posts—mayor, senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor,” said city Congress president HS Lucky.
Meanwhile, BJP’s Chandigarh in-charge and Ghaziabad MP Atul Garg will also hold a meeting with BJP leaders soon to finalise the party candidates. As per party insiders, councillor Harpreet Kaur Babla and former mayor Sarabjeet kaur are among the front runners for the mayoral post from the saffron fold.
