Chandigarh mayoral elections postponed; AAP, Congress protest

The Chandigarh mayoral elections which were to be held on January 18, have been postponed citing ill health of the presiding officer. This sparked protests from Aam Aadmi Party and Congress leaders and workers.

Congress leader Pawan Kumar Bansal said that the presiding officer has been hospitalised with the intention to postpone the mayor election by the BJP. Bansal called it a totally undemocratic thing. AAP and Congress have teamed up up to take on BJP in Chandigarh mayoral polls.

The alliance is aiming to oust the BJP from the chair of mayor which it has been winning for the last eight years. For the mayor seat, the BJP has fielded Manoj Sonkar while the AAP has nominated Kuldeep Kumar Tita. For the post of senior deputy mayor, the contest will be between BJP's Kuljeet Sandhu and Congress's Gurpreet Singh Gabi.

In the 35-member Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, the BJP has 14 councillors. It also has an ex-officio member MP (Kirron Kher) who has voting rights.

The AAP has 13 councillors and the Congress seven. The Shiromani Akali Dal has one councillor in the House.

The MC officials have said that no mobile phone, camera and any other electronic gadget will be allowed during the voting at the assembly hall of the MC office.

The mayor is elected by the councillors through secret ballots. Hence, the possibility of cross-voting cannot be ruled out.

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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 category. This time the mayor will be elected for the third term.