In a major breakthrough for the Opposition’s INDIA bloc, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress have forged an alliance for the upcoming Chandigarh mayoral polls.
Under the arrangement, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will fight for the mayor’s seat while the Congress will contest the posts of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor, according to senior Congress leader Pawan Kumar Bansal.
After announcing the alliance of his party with the AAP for the January 18 polls, Bansal said, “This is the beginning of the end of the BJP’s misrule in Chandigarh.” Chandigarh Congress president H S Lucky said 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Congress candidate Jasbir Bunty has withdrawn his nomination for the mayor’s post, while AAP nominees Neha Musavat and Poonam have withdrawn their candidatures for the posts of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor respectively.
With the AAP and the Congress deciding on a tie-up for the Chandigarh mayoral polls, the contest is going to be two-way and observers believe that the two parties will have an edge over the BJP.
Speaking on the alliance with the Congress, the AAP’s Chandigarh in-charge Jarnail Singh said, “Together, we will easily win this election and finally, Chandigarh will have a mayor from a party other than the BJP.” Singh said the mayoral polls will set an example that the AAP and the Congress together can defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“To end the dictatorship of the BJP, the AAP and the Congress have decided to fight this election together. The BJP has done nothing for the welfare of Chandigarh and its people but now, all of it will change. With the AAP mayor, Chandigarh will see new heights of development and public welfare projects,” he said in a statement.
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.
INDIA Bloc
The development came amid the two constituents of the INDIA bloc holding talks over seat sharing for this year’s Lok Sabha polls. But the state units of both parties in Punjab appear reluctant so far to make any concession to the other side.
The Congress and the AAP have been separately claiming that they will win all 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab.
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