Twist in tale: BJP, AAP, Congress all throw hat in ring for mayoral post in Chandigarh

For the mayor’s post, the BJP has fielded Saurabh Joshi, 44, while the AAP has nominated Yogesh Dhingra, 36, and the Congress has named Gurpreet Singh Gabi, 47.

With talks between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress collapsing, candidates from all three parties – the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), AAP and Congress – have filed nominations for all three posts in the mayoral elections scheduled for January 29, setting the stage for a triangular contest.

AAP councillors coming out of the MC office after filing their nominations for the mayoral polls on Thursday. (Keshav Singh/HT)

Adding to the political uncertainty, AAP councillor Ram Chander Yadav has filed his nomination as an independent for the deputy mayor’s post. He, however, maintained that he remains loyal to the AAP, insisting that his decision should not be viewed as rebellion. His nomination papers were proposed by Congress councillors Jasbir Singh Bunty and Darshana Devi, fuelling speculation about possible cross-voting.

For the mayor’s post, the BJP has fielded Saurabh Joshi, 44, while the AAP has nominated Yogesh Dhingra, 36, and the Congress has named Gurpreet Singh Gabi, 47. For senior deputy mayor’s post, BJP has fielded Jasmanpreet Singh, AAP has gone with Munawar Khan and Congress has fielded Sachin Galav. For the deputy mayor’s post, BJP has placed its bets on Suman Devi, AAP has fielded Jaswinder Kaur while Congress has gone with Nirmala Devi. The nominations were filed before municipal secretary Himanshu Gupta on Thursday.

If the AAP and Congress continue to contest separately on polling day, political observers believe the BJP is well-placed to sweep all three posts, benefiting from the split in the rivals’ votes. Party insiders, however, indicate that backchannel talks between the AAP and the Congress are still going on, and if a consensus is reached, candidates may withdraw their nominations before polling.

The January 29 election will be the last mayoral poll of the MC House elected in 2022. It will be for the first time in Chandigarh’s political history that a mayor will be elected through an open show of hands instead of a secret ballot.