AAP, Congress likely to tie-up for Chandigarh Mayoral polls

Both the AAP and the BJP have 14 councillors each in the House. The BJP, however, has one extra vote in the the form of Chandigarh Member of Parliament (MP) Kirron Kher, effectively taking their total number of votes to 15. The AAP, therefore, is keen on getting the support of the Congress, which has six elected councillors in the House and can therefore end up becoming the deciding factor.

A councillor from the AAP, on the condition of anonymity, on Tuesday said, “Negotiations are underway. We are certain that the AAP will have its Mayor this time. A decision regarding the rest of the posts is being worked out with the Congress.”

Contacted, a councillor from the Chandigarh unit of the Congress too, on condition of anonymity, said, “We have a meeting scheduled with our high command to decide on the issue. We do not want the BJP to win at any cost.”

In the Chandigarh civic body, a Mayor has a one-year term. In 2022’s corporation elections, the AAP managed to secure a majority in the 35-member House, with 14 of its councillors elected. The BJP got 12 seats in the House, while the Congress managed eight. One councillor was elected from the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). However, after the polls, two Congress councillors defected to the BJP, giving the party 14 votes, with one more vote from the Chandigarh MP who is an ex-officio member of the corporation. Nine additional councillors are nominated to the House, but they do not get any voting rights.

In the 2022 Mayor polls, both the BJP and the AAP had the same number of votes. However, one vote polled by the AAP was declared invalid leading to the BJP winning the Mayor’s post and appointing Sarabjit Kaur for the same.

When are the Mayoral polls due?

In a notification issued on Monday by officiating Chandigarh Deputy Commissioner, Yashpal Garg, it was stated that the Mayoral elections will be held at 11 am at the Assembly hall of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation building. Nominations have to be filed by January 12 by 5 pm as per the notification. Nominated councillor Amit Jindal will be the presiding authority.

The polls will be held in the presence of the Deputy Commissioner.