Edited by Deepali Verma
The BJP’s Manoj Sonkar was declared the Mayor of Chandigarh after he won the polls with 16 votes against the 12 votes managed by Congress-AAP candidate Kuldeep Tita on January 30. Eight votes were declared invalid. Owing to the protests that broke out against the presiding authority Anil Masih, marshals were called in to control the situation.
The mayor will now be conducting the election for the Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor.
The polls had considerable importance as it was the maiden electoral test of the Opposition’s INDIA alliance against the BJP and also saw the first alliance between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress.
The polling process proceeded in the presence of Chandigarh Municipal Corporation Deputy Commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh. Voting, which was scheduled to commence at 10 am, started almost after an hour’s delay as the deputy commissioner and some councillors arrived late.
MP Kirron Kher, who is the ex-officio member of the House, had casted her vote first. In totality, 36 votes were polled during the hour-long process. The AAP and Congress together had a total of 20 votes, the BJP had 15 votes, plus one from the ex-officio member Kher.
Mediapersons were denied entry to the press gallery to cover the election. However, the reporters could watch the polling process over on a screen installed in the conference room that had no audio output.
High security ahead of mayoral polls
The deployment of nearly 700 police personnel with additional paramilitary forces took place at the Municipal Corporation Building in Chandigarh, where the mayoral election is set to start.
On the other hand, a few Municipal councillors from the Congress and AAP turned down the Chandigarh police’s offer to provide additional security.
