BJP sweeps Chandigarh mayoral polls, Saurabh Joshi elected new Mayor

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s Saurabh Joshi was elected Mayor of Chandigarh on Thursday after winning a three-cornered contest against AAP and Congress in the Municipal Corporation mayoral election. (Source: Photo by Kamleshwar Singh)

Joshi secured 18 votes in the 36-member House, defeating AAP candidate Yogesh Dhingra who received 11 votes, and Congress nominee Gurpreet Singh Gabi, who secured seven votes (Source: Photo by Kamleshwar Singh)

The Municipal Corporation has 35 elected councillors, and the city’s Member of Parliament is also entitled to vote, bringing the total electorate to 36. A candidate required at least 19 votes to be elected Mayor (Source: Photo by Kamleshwar Singh)

The BJP, which has 18 councillors, fell just short of the halfway mark on its own but managed to secure enough support to ensure Joshi’s victory. The AAP, with 11 councillors, and Congress, with six, failed to make a dent in the BJP’s tally (Source: Photo by Kamleshwar Singh)

The election drew heightened political interest as BJP, AAP, and Congress contested the mayoral post independently for the first time since the current House was formed in 2022, with no pre-poll alliance in place (Source: Photo by Kamleshwar Singh)

Voting began at 11 am and was conducted through an open show of hands, following a notification by the Chandigarh Administrator, replacing the earlier secret ballot system to ensure greater transparency (Source: Photo by Kamleshwar Singh)

BJP councillor Jasmanpreet Singh was elected Senior Deputy Mayor after securing 18 votes, while AAP candidate Munawar Khan received 11 votes and Congress nominee Sachin Galav received no votes (Source: Photo by Kamleshwar Singh)

BJP’s Suman Sharma was elected Deputy Mayor with 18 votes, defeating AAP’s Jaswinder Kaur who received 11 votes, while Independent candidate Ramchandra Yadav withdrew before voting and Congress nominee Nirmala Devi received no votes (Source: Photo by Kamleshwar Singh)