Edited by Deepali Verma
The Chandigarh mayoral election will take place on January 30, where the fight is between Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and against an alliance of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress. This marks the first clash between the NDA and the INDIA bloc prior to the general elections and Nitish Kumar’s sensational switch. There is an extensive police deployment in place with close to 800 police personnel and additional forces from the paramilitary, with a three-layer barricade securing the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation.
The Mayoral polls were supposed to take place on January 18 but were postponed to February 6 by the Chandigarh administration owing to the illness of the presiding officer Anil Masih. The decision to defer was also taken keeping in mind the prevailing law-and-order situation. However, this move saw protests from Congress and AAP councillors. Mr Masih, who had apparent health issues, was reappointed as the presiding authority.
The Municipal Corporation House has 35 members out of which the AAP and Congress alliance holds a combined total of 20 votes while the BJP has 15 votes, which includes 14 councillors and the additional vote of MP Kirron Kher. The magic number for victory stands at 19.
The election process has had its due share of legal hurdles. The Punjab and Haryana High Court, in its January 24 order, instructed the Chandigarh administration to hold the mayoral polls on January 30, dismissing the earlier postponement calling it “unreasonable, unjustified, and arbitrary”. The court laid emphasis on the need for free and fair elections, prohibiting councillors from being accompanied by supporters or security personnel from other states.
All parties involved have adopted a cautious approach, keeping their councillors on the move before the polling day.
Kuldeep Kumar, in representation of AAP, is contesting for the mayoral post, while the Congress is fielding candidates for senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor.
Voting is set to begin at 10 am and the election process for the mayor’s position is conducted via a secret ballot.
The mayor’s seat this year is reserved for the Scheduled Caste category, with Manoj Sonkar representing the BJP and Mr Kumar from the AAP as the contenders. The senior deputy mayor post will see Kuljeet Sandhu of the BJP facing off against Congress’s Gurpreet Singh Gabi, while the deputy mayor position will be contested between BJP’s Rajinder Sharma and Congress’s Nirmala Devi.
