BJP sweeps Chandigarh mayoral polls; Saurabh Joshi elected new mayor

BJP councillor Saurabh Joshi was elected as the new mayor of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation on Thursday as the party swept the mayoral polls by also securing the posts of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor.

In a three-cornered contest for the post of mayor of the Chandigarh civic body, BJP nominee Joshi secured 18 votes, Aam Aadmi Party candidate Yogesh Dhingra got 11 votes, while the Congress' Gurpreet Singh Gabi secured seven votes.

The polls were conducted by a show of hands instead of the previous practice of a secret ballot. After raising their hands, councillors also gave their verbal confirmation before the presiding officer, Ramneek Singh Bedi, a nominated councillor, who conducted the election for the post of mayor.

In the 35-member House of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, the BJP has 18 councillors, the AAP has 11, and the Congress has six. The Chandigarh MP also has a voting right as an ex officio member of the 35-member municipal corporation.

Sitting MP Manish Tewari of the Congress raised his hand in support of his party's nominee Gurpreet Singh Gabi.

Congress and AAP did not forge an alliance for the mayoral polls this time.

After BJP's Joshi was declared the new mayor of Chandigarh, he conducted the elections for the posts of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor. The Congress abstained from voting in this election.

After voting for the mayor's post, all six Congress councillors and Congress MP Tewari left the House.

BJP nominee for senior deputy mayor Jasmanpreet Singh defeated AAP councillor Manuar Khan by 18 votes to 11. BJP councillor Suman Sharma won the post of deputy mayor by defeating AAP nominee Jaswinder Kaur.

Before the election for the post of deputy mayor, AAP councillor Ramchandra Yadav, who had filed his nomination as an independent, withdrew his candidature.