INDIA alliance loses in Chandigarh Corporation; BJP wins senior deputy mayor, deputy mayor elections

Chandigarh: The INDIA alliance, which won the Chandigarh mayoral election, suffered a major setback on Monday as the BJP secured victory in the elections for Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Chandigarh.

Kuljeet Singh Sandhu of the BJP emerged victorious in the Chandigarh Senior Deputy Mayor election, while Rajinder Sharma of the BJP defeated his closest competitor, Nirmala Devi, by a margin of two votes for the position of deputy mayor. The BJP garnered 19 votes, surpassing the alliance’s 17 votes.

In the senior deputy mayor election, one vote from the Aam Aadmi Party and Congress alliance was invalidated, resulting in 16 votes for the alliance and 19 for the BJP, with one vote cancelled.

It is speculated that Hardeep Singh of the Akali Dal voted for the BJP. Voting concluded at 11:12 am, with MP Kirron Kher casting her initial vote amidst a minor disruption when Councilor Saurabh Joshi approached her before voting.

Although Aam Aadmi Party and Congress councillors protested this action, the issue was resolved after the mayor intervened.

Mayor Kuldeep Kumar and DC Vinay Pratap Singh were present during the voting period, which lasted one and a half hours. All three councillors who switched allegiance from the Aam Aadmi Party to the BJP exercised their voting rights.

The BJP raised objections regarding the presence of municipal joint secretary Gurinder Singh Sodhi with the mayor before the vote count, questioning its accordance with the rules, as highlighted by Saurabh Joshi.