In what is expected to be a great contest between the Congress and BJP,candidates from both parties filed their nominations for the Mayoral elections scheduled for January 1. The post this year is reserved for a scheduled caste candidate. The BJP,after a meeting on Friday,decided it would field Rajinder Kaur Rattu,councillor of ward 24,for the post of Mayor. The vice-president of BJPs city unit,councillor Heera Negi,filed nominations for the post of senior deputy Mayor,while Davesh Moudgil was the partys choice for the deputy Mayor. The BJP candidates filed their nominations in the presence of senior leaders Satya Pal Jain,Harmohan Dhawan and Sanjay Tandon. Rattu stated they were hopeful of getting support from the nominated councillors for the elections and would approach them. Meanwhile,the Congress selected its candidates after a meeting held at the party office on Saturday morning in the presence of an observer from New Delhi. H C Kalyan was named as the Mayoral candidate,while Sat Prakash Aggarwal would be the partys candidate for the post of senior deputy Mayor and Sheela Phool Singh will stand for deputy Mayor. Singh has earlier held the post of deputy Mayor twice in the last term. Local MP Pawan Kumar Bansal was present on the occasion where Kalyan stated he would approach all councillors,both elected and nominated,for their support. The 36 member House comprises 26 elected and nine nominated councillors. Of the 26 elected councillors,12 are from the Congress,11 from BJP-SAD,two from BSP and one independent candidate. The local MP is an ex-officio member of the House and has a vote. With there being a difference of just one councillor between the Congress and the BJP-SAD alliance,it is the votes of the BSP and nominated councillors that candidates would require to emerge victorious.
