Shruti Suman
Kuljeet Singh Sandhu of the BJP secured the position of Senior Deputy Mayor in the re-polls held at the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation on Monday. Additionally, Rajinder Sharma from the BJP won the position of Deputy Mayor in the re-election.
Mr. Sandhu obtained 19 votes, while Gurpreet Gabi from the Congress received 16 votes. One vote was deemed invalid, and the announcement of the result was made by the Mayor.
With 17 councillors in the 35-member municipal body, the BJP’s representation increased from 14 to 17 following the defection of three Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillors on February 19. The AAP holds 10 seats, while the Congress has seven. Shiromani Akali Dal is represented by one councillor.
Kirron Kher, the BJP member and Member of Parliament for Chandigarh, also possesses voting privileges as an ex-officio member of the corporation.
The Supreme Court, on February 20, overturned the results of the Chandigarh mayoral election held on January 30, in which the BJP candidate emerged as an unexpected winner. The defeated AAP-Congress alliance candidate, Kuldeep Kumar, was declared the new Mayor.
The election process for the two positions is being overseen by AAP councillor Kumar, who recently assumed the role of Chandigarh Mayor. In the January 30 poll, BJP’s Manoj Sonkar had defeated Kumar to become the Mayor.
Councillors from the AAP and Congress, alleging ballot tampering, boycotted the elections for the positions of Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor, resulting in the victory of Mr. Sandhu and Rajinder Sharma at that time.
Once again, the BJP has nominated Mr. Sharma for the position of Deputy Mayor, with him contending against Nirmala Devi from the Congress.
NI Bureau
