Chandigarh to get its Mayor today; BJP, AAP, Congress locked in three-cornered contest

The contest for the posts of Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor has also drawn attention. For Senior Deputy Mayor, the BJP has nominated Jasmanpreet Singh, AAP has fielded Munawar Khan, and the Congress has named Sachin Galav. The Deputy Mayor’s election will see a four-cornered contest, with BJP candidate Suman (a former AAP councillor), AAP’s Jaswinder Kaur, Congress nominee Nirmala Devi, and Independent candidate Ramchandra Yadav, an AAP councillor who filed his nomination after not being named by the party.

The election process will begin at 11 am on January 29, with the Mayor’s election held first. There remains a possibility of withdrawal of nominations before voting begins. If there are no withdrawals, the Mayor and Senior Deputy Mayor elections will be three-cornered, while the Deputy Mayor election will involve four candidates.

The voting will be conducted through open voting by show of hands, following a notification issued by the Chandigarh Administrator. In previous years, voting was conducted through a secret ballot. The change was introduced after controversies during the 2024 mayoral election, with the stated aim of ensuring greater transparency.

The Municipal Corporation has 35 elected councillors, and the city’s Member of Parliament is also entitled to vote, taking the total number of voters to 36. A candidate requires 19 votes to be elected Mayor. The BJP currently has 18 councillors, AAP has 11, and Congress has six.

While the Congress has appealed to councillors to vote according to their conscience, the AAP is facing the challenge of managing dissent within its ranks, particularly with Ramchandra Yadav contesting as an Independent. Party sources said efforts are underway to persuade him to withdraw, though no decision had been announced till late Wednesday evening.

Political observers said discussions on a possible Congress-AAP alliance did not progress beyond the exploratory stage, with both parties choosing to contest independently in view of their respective political strategies, particularly in the context of Punjab politics. However, speculation over informal understandings has continued, especially after Congress councillors were seen as proposers for the Independent candidate during the nomination process.

Meanwhile, the Chandigarh Administration has said that all arrangements for the election are in place.

Deputy Commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav on Wednesday reviewed the preparations with senior officials of the Municipal Corporation. The review focused on law and order arrangements, preparedness of the election venue, deployment of officials, security measures and inter-departmental coordination.

The Deputy Commissioner emphasised that all statutory provisions and prescribed guidelines must be followed to ensure the election is conducted in a free, fair and transparent manner. Officials have been asked to remain alert and responsive to any situation during the election process.

The results of the mayoral election will be declared after the completion of voting on Thursday.

Meanwhile, a petition filed by AAP Mayoral candidate, Yogesh Dhingra, for conducting election under an independent observer appointed by the High Court, was disposed of by the Court on Wednesday.