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Chandigarh mayoral polls: HC defers hearing on AAP’s plea to January 20
The Aam Aadmi Party has sought deferment of Chandigarh mayoral polls to February and voting by show of hands
The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday deferred hearing on the plea from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), seeking deferment of Chandigarh mayoral polls to February and voting by show of hands, to January 20.
The plea by incumbent mayor Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor was taken up by the bench of Justice Sureshwar Thakur and Justice Vikas Suri.
The bench heard arguments on AAP’s demand of allowing the mayor to continue till February 20, when he took over last year following a legal battle that reached the Supreme Court.
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However, arguments could not be concluded. While the AAP says Dhalor should be allowed to continue till February 20, the UT administration contends that the law mandates that elections be held in the first House meeting of the year, which is convened in the month of January.
Now, the matter will be taken up on Monday, which is also the last date to file nominations for the January 24 polls.
The AAP has a sitting mayor in the MC House with the support of the Congress Party. This time also, they have decided to continue with the arrangement.
Currently, AAP has 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.
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In the 2024 mayoral polls, Dhalor had initially lost to BJP nominee Manoj Sonkar. However, the rigging done by presiding officer Anil Masih was captured on live camera and the election was nullified by the Supreme Court on February 20. It led to Dhalor becoming the city’s first non-Congress and non-BJP mayor.
The plea also says the administrator was approached with a demand to hold polls by show of hands. However, the same has not been accepted so far.
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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 CCTV cameras, so that the entire process is recorded.
The plea also says the MC House resolved in October that voting should be conducted through a show of hands instead of a secret ballot, to ensure a transparent and equitable election process in the future. However, the administration has not accepted the demand.
