Journalism of Courage
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Congress, as well as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday moved their respective councillors to resorts in various states to prevent them from being poached in the run-up to the Chandigarh Mayoral elections that is scheduled to take place on January 17.
On Thursday, the Congress had pulled out of the race for the upcoming Mayoral polls in Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, leaving the field clear for a one-on-one fight between the BJP and the AAP.
A day after, on Friday, the Congress leadership in Chandigarh said that they were yet to decide if or not they will abstain from voting on January 17.
As per details, while the councillors from BJP were shifted to Ambala (Haryana), those from the AAP were taken to Ropar (Punjab). The Congress has moved its councillors to Kasauli in Himachal Pradesh. While Haryana is ruled by the BJP, in coalition with the JJP, Punjab has a AAP government at the helm. Himachal Pradesh is ruled by the Congress.
President of the Chandigarh unit of Congress, Harmohinder Singh Lucky, while speaking to The Indian Express on Friday said, “We have not taken any call yet on whether or not we will vote during the Mayoral polls. We are waiting see what our high command decides. If they ask us to vote as per conscience then we will, if they ask us to abstain then we won’t.”
Lucky also confirmed that the party councillors were moved to Kasauli so that they are not poached in the run-up to the Mayoral elections.
Meanwhile, the lone SAD councillor in the Chandigarh municipal House , Hardeep Singh, on Friday too said that he will consult with his party high command to decide about voting during the upcoming polls.
Resentment brews within the BJP
Sources said that resentment had been brewing strong in the BJP ranks ever since the party chose Anup Gupta as its Mayoral candidate.
A party councillor, on condition of anonymity, said that the party had ignored some senior councillors and had instead decided to go with a first-time councillor as its choice for the Mayor’s post. He added that the grudge among the party ranks was also because most councillors felt that a new face ought to have been given a chance, especially cause Anup Gupta had already served as the Deputy Mayor under Sarabjit Kaur.
Meanwhile, a senior AAP leader claimed that many BJP councillors were in touch with them and they are sure that the AAP’s Mayoral candidate would be elected to the post.
The AAP has fielded Jasbir Singh, while the BJP has gone with Anup Gupta for the January 17 elections, with both the nominees filing their papers for the polls on Thursday — the last day to file nominations.
For the post of Senior Deputy Mayor, the AAP has fielded Taruna Mehta, while the BJP has gone with Kanwarjit Rana. For the post of Deputy Mayor, it will be a contest between AAP’s Suman Sharma and BJP’s Harjit Singh.
Numbers game
In the 35-member Chandigarh Municipal Corpotration House, the AAP and the BJP have 14 members each, with the Congress having six elected councillors. The Shiromani Akali Dal has one councillor. The BJP gets one extra vote in the House with Chandigarh MP, Kirron Kher, getting to cast her franchise during voting owing to her status as an ex-officio member of the general House. In order to be elected as the Mayor of the House, a candidate will need to secure at least 19 votes.
In the run-up to the polls, both the AAP and the Congress had unofficially stated that they would not be averse to tying up with each other in order to keep the BJP out from winning in the Mayoral polls. Neither of the parties, however, have issued a official confirmation of a tie-up yet.
Last year, the BJP’s Mayoral candidate, Sarabjit Kaur, had been declared as the winner after one vote cast by the AAP was declared as invalid.
