Big Setback For INDI Alliance As BJP Wins Chandigarh Mayoral Poll

In a significant political setback for the INDI Alliance, the Congress-Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) alliance suffered defeat in the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation (CMC) mayoral election on Thursday (30 January), as reported by PTI.

Despite holding a numerical edge in the House, cross-voting among their councillors paved the way for the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) victory.

The election, conducted through secret ballot, saw BJP candidate Harpreet Kaur Babla clinching the mayoral post with 19 votes, defeating Prem Lata, the joint nominee of AAP and Congress, who managed 17 votes, an official confirmed.

This mayoral post was reserved for women candidates.

While the BJP had 16 councillors, the AAP-Congress alliance commanded a stronger position with 19 councillors, in addition to the ex-officio member, Chandigarh’s Member of Parliament, who had voting rights.

This should have taken their strength to 20 in the 35-member House, yet the results painted a different picture.

The loss for the INDI Alliance is being attributed to cross-voting, with suspicions that some alliance councillors backed the BJP.

The election was held under scrutiny, as the Supreme Court had appointed a retired Punjab and Haryana High Court judge as an observer to ensure a fair process.

The High Court had mandated that the proceedings be videographed, a directive that came in the wake of previous electoral controversies.

The 2024 mayoral elections had been marred by allegations of malpractice, leading to judicial intervention.

AAP’s Kuldeep Kumar had been declared mayor by the Supreme Court on 20 February last year, after the court overturned the previous results that had favoured the BJP.

In that instance, the then-presiding officer, Anil Masih, was caught on camera invalidating eight ballot papers that supported the AAP-Congress alliance, sparking outrage and legal battles.

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