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Poll outcome major setback for BJP city unit chief Malhotra
Roped in for the role ahead of the impending Lok Sabha polls, Malhotra finds himself at the receiving end of flak from within the BJP
The Supreme Court’s (SC) verdict on Tuesday has come in as a major setback for the city BJP chief Jatinder Malhotra, roped on months ahead of polls to shore up party’s prospects in 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Malhotra finds himself at the receiving end within the BJP as political developments in the city have embarrassed the party nationally. A section of leaders are unhappy with his handling of the mayoral polls, according to party sources.
A senior party leader requesting anonymity said Malhotra had failed to take all BJP leaders along and even appointed officer bearers from a single camp and completely ignored others.
Malhotra had dropped Anil Masih, the mayoral polls’ presiding officer at the centre of controversy over his action of defacing eight ballots cast in favour of the AAP-Congress candidate. Masih, who has been the general secretary of the saffron party’s minority morcha since 2021, has been divested of the post.
Both AAP and Congress had trained guns at BJP, Masih in particular ever since BJP candidate Manoj Sonkar had been declared winner in the January 30 polls.
Others, meanwhile, highlighted Malhotra’s disconnect, saying he was not even in the know of three AAP councillors joining BJP on January 18 in New Delhi. All three councillors — Neha Musavat and Poonam Sandeep Kumar and Gurcharan Singh Kala — joined BJP in the presence of party general secretary Vinod Tawde at his residence in New Delhi. Former Chandigarh BJP chief Arun Sood was also present at the occasion.
A former BJP mayor, who wished not to be named, said the new party chief completely failed in his first test while also highlighting the poor timing for the debacle considering Lok Sabha polls were just months away.
“The videos of the presiding officer are out in public, and we cannot deny the fact now. It should have been handled better,” the former mayor said.
In October last year, the BJP appointed Malhotra, 58, as its Chandigarh unit president, replacing Arun Sood.
Repeated calls to Mahlotra remained unanswered.
A sweet win for AAP, Congress
AAP and Congress workers in the city, meanwhile, were quick to celebrate the SC verdict declaring Dhalor the winner of the mayoral elections with exchange of sweets.
The former party’s leaders gathered at the Punjab Bhawan, while Congress celebrated at the residence of local unit chief HS Lucky in Sector 8 with exchange of sweets.
Local leaders and councillors from both parties had already sat down in anticipation to watch the live stream of the SC proceedings.
