Mayor’s report card Tall promises fall short amid MC’s fiscal crisis
Dhalor had to face the ire of councillors, including those from his party, as development projects in their wards were stalled and new tenders shelved
Aam Aadmi Party’s Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor, 38, who was appointed Chandigarh mayor on February 20, 2024, after the Supreme Court intervened in the ballot-tampering fiasco, started out with tall promises of free parking and free water but fell short of implementing them due to the ₹200-crore deficit that crippled the municipal corporation’s functioning.

Dhalor’s term was also overshadowed by bureaucratic and administrative resistance as his requests for financial aid to run development projects were ignored. The UT administration’s refusal to extend financial aid to the MC despite his repeated requests left the corporation cash-strapped. His proposal of transferring the registration and licensing authority (RLA) to the MC was also turned down.
Out in the cold
Though INDIA bloc members, comprising councillors of the AAP and the Congress, approved free water and free parking for Chandigarh residents, then UT administrator Banwarilal Purohit rejected the proposals, terming them financially unviable.
AAP councillors say Dhalor faced resistance from the BJP-led UT administration as Purohit had refused to meet him, and he was excluded from key city functions.
Dhalor had to face the ire of councillors, including those from his party, as development projects in their wards were stalled and new tenders shelved.
A part of his tenure was affected by the imposition of the model code of conduct for the June 1 Lok Sabha elections, that ate into time for policy implementation.
The MC was without a regular municipal commissioner for two months, further delaying projects and policies. Dhalor accused MC officials of not responding to his calls, text messages and official letters.
On the wrong foot
Another challenge came with the unearthing of a ₹4-crore fake job scam in the civic body. A former sanitation worker, Simal Khairwal, 26, was arrested for duping 400 aspirants by promising them jobs of sanitation workers in the MC.
UT administrator Kataria questioned the recruitment of outsourced and contractual staff in the MC. Official data showed 1,161 employees were hired during seven months of Dhalor’s term. This unexpected spike left councillors from all political parties, including Dhalor, baffled.
Councillors critical
His predecessor, Anup Gupta of the BJP, says, “No new work was started during Dhalor’s tenure and all those inaugurations he did, were efforts of two former BJP mayors. The financial crisis is the result of the AAP’s mismanagement of funds.”
Another BJP councillor, Mahesh Inder Singh Sidhu, went a step further to say: “Dhalor’s term was a disaster. He indulged in corruption and was involved in illegal sand mining. His policies brought the MC to the brink of bankruptcy. He caused unnecessary confrontation between ruling and opposition councillors. He’s a dummy mayor who was often seen taking instructions from the gallery and from a few INDIA bloc councillors. His own ward, Dadumajra, cried for attention. Another mound of garbage has come up at the processing plant during his tenure.”
An AAP councillor, requesting anonymity, says, “Dhalor brought certain agendas, including the hike in electricity cess and leasing out agricultural land, without consulting his party members or leaders. As a result, he had to withdraw them. INDIA bloc councillors had to struggle to carry out projects even when an AAP mayor was in power.”
Sanitation worker to mayor
Dhalor may not have delivered as expected, but his rise from a sanitation worker to a councillor in 2021 and then becoming the first non-BJP and non-Congress mayor of Chandigarh is inspiring.
He started off with the BJP as a ground-level functionary in Dadumajra before jumping ship to the AAP ahead of the 2021 MC elections, defeating Jatinder Singh Toti of the Congress by 1,700 votes in ward number 26, which includes Dadumajra colony.
Before taking a plunge into politics, Dhalor represented Chandigarh at national-level kabbadi meets.
He runs a tent and catering business with his brother and also works as a property dealer in Dadumajra. His wife is a homemaker and they have two children.
