Chandigarh mayoral polls: As the Aam Aadmi Party and Congress agreed to contest the January 18 Chandigarh mayoral polls as allies, Raghav Chadha said that it is the first time that the I.N.D.I.A bloc will be up against the BJP and the grand alliance will register a “historic and decisive victory”. The AAP leader exuded confidence in sweeping the mayoral polls and said that the scorecard after the results will be “I.N.D.I.A 1, BJP 0”.
This comes after both parties, which are at loggerheads over seat-sharing in Lok Sabha elections, came to an agreement to contest the mayoral polls together. According to the understanding, the AAP will fight for the mayor’s seat while the Congress will contest the posts of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor.
“INDIA Alliance will fight the Chandigarh Mayor elections with all its strength and register a historic and decisive victory. Don't consider this an ordinary election. This will be an election where for the first time it will be INDIA vs BJP...After this election, the scorecard will be INDIA 1, BJP 0. We think that the clean sweep on 18th January will be the beginning for the Lok Sabha election 2024..." AAP MP Raghav Chadha said.
Candidates for the mayoral polls
AAP candidate Kuldeep Kumar Tita will contest the polls for the mayor's post while Congress nominees Gurpreet Singh Gabi and Nirmala Devi will fight for the posts of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor respectively.
Congress candidate Jasbir Bunty has withdrawn his nomination for the mayor's post, while AAP nominees Neha Musavat and Poonam have withdrawn their candidatures for the posts of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor respectively.
Notably, the state units of AAP and Congress have claimed to win all 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab in the general elections and have been reluctant to concede to the other side.
Chandigarh mayoral polls
In the 35-member Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, the BJP has 14 councillors. It also has an ex-officio member MP who has voting rights. The AAP has 13 councillors and the Congress seven. The Shiromani Akali Dal has one councillor in the House. The polls for the posts of mayor, senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor will be held on Thursday.
The mayor is elected by the councillors through secret ballots. Hence, the possibility of cross-voting cannot be ruled out.
The Congress abstained from voting in 2022 and 2023, leading to the BJP's victory in the mayoral polls.
Elections for the three posts are held every year during the five-year term of the House.
This year, the mayor's seat has been reserved for the Scheduled Caste (SC) category.
(With inputs from agencies)
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