Chandigarh: The Aam Aadmi Party-Congress and the BJP will locked in a tight contest for the Chandigarh Mayoral polls on Thursday with prohibitory orders issued around the Municipal Corporation building.
The elections for the positions of mayor, senior deputy mayor, and deputy mayor will take place in the assembly hall of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the Chandigarh administration imposed Section 163 of the Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, prohibiting gatherings of five or more people within 100 metres of the Chandigarh MC building’s perimeter.
Chandigarh mayor election candidates
The AAP and Congress are contesting the mayoral elections as an alliance, with AAP fielding its councillor, Prem Lata, for the mayor’s post. Congress has nominated Jasbir Singh Bunty and Taruna Mehta for the positions of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor, respectively.
AAP’s Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor is the incumbent mayor of Chandigarh.
Whereas, the BJP has nominated Harpreet Kaur Babla for the mayor’s post, while Bimla Dubey and Lakhbir Singh Billu are its candidates for senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor, respectively.
In the 35-member Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, the AAP holds 13 seats, while its ally Congress has six. Meanwhile, the BJP has 16 councillors, following the recent defection of Congress councillor Gurbax Rawat to the BJP, which increased its strength to 16.
Additionally, the Chandigarh MP, who serves as an ex-officio member, also has voting rights. The current MP is Manish Tewari of Congress.
For the election, nominated councillor Ramneek Singh Bedi was appointed as the presiding officer, while former Punjab and Haryana High Court Justice (retd) Jaishree Thakur was designated as an independent observer by the Supreme Court.
Case against AAP’s mayoral candidate
Just hours before the Chandigarh mayoral election today, a corruption case has been registered against the sitting Aam Aadmi Party mayor, Kuldeep Kumar, and his brother-in-law, Rahul.
The Chandigarh Crime Branch has filed a case against them for allegedly taking Rs 75,000 from an individual in exchange for securing a sweeper’s job.
A person named Ravi had lodged a complaint with the Chandigarh Crime Branch, following which an FIR was registered based on the investigation and evidence. The police may arrest the mayor and his brother-in-law at any moment.
If sitting mayor Kuldeep Kumar is arrested before today’s election, it will be a major setback for the Aam Aadmi Party and a significant development ahead of the mayoral polls.
