BJP Stumps AAP Again In Chandigarh, Wins Mayor Poll By One Vote

In an interesting turn of events, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), yet again, stumped the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the ongoing mayoral poll.

Winning the poll by one vote, BJP’s Anup Gupta defeated AAP’s Jasbir Singh. Of the 29 votes polled, Gupta secured 15 votes, with Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), having seven votes together, abstaining from voting. 

BJP reached its tally of 15 with 14 votes from its councillors and one vote from Chandigarh MP, Kirron Kher. The AAP protested against the presence of the nominated members in the house during voting, but the deputy commissioner, supervising the polls, refused to entertain them. 

Congress’ councillors had been moved to the nearby town of Kasauli before the day of polling. However, the AAP alleged that they had been colluding with the BJP.

This is AAP’s second consecutive defeat in the mayoral polls. In 2022, BJP’s Sarabjit Kaur was declared the mayor after one AAP vote was declared as invalid. 

In the city’s civic polls, of the 26 seats in 2016, BJP had won 20, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), their then ally, had won one, leaving four for the Congress, and one independent.

In 2021, the seat count was extended to 35. SAD still managed a single seat last year, while BJP’s count came down to 12 with AAP making a grand debut with 14 seats. Congress’ count was 8. 

To be elected to the post of mayor, a candidate was required to win at least 15 votes. 

While the city’s civic polls may not be a reflection of the national sentiment, they do hold importance in the context of the single Lok Sabha seat of Chandigarh, and AAP’s presence in the region.

The defeat would also play on the minds of the AAP leaders who fear cross-voting ahead of the mayor polls, in the national capital later this month.