CHANDIGARH, January 29: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) registered a clean sweep in the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation elections on Wednesday, winning the posts of Mayor, Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor in a three-cornered contest marked by high political drama.
BJP councillor Saurabh Joshi was elected Mayor, while Jasmanpreet Singh won the post of Senior Deputy Mayor and Suman Sharma was elected Deputy Mayor.
The BJP had fielded Joshi for Mayor, Jasmanpreet Singh for Senior Deputy Mayor and Suman Sharma for Deputy Mayor.
The Congress nominated Gurpreet Singh Gabi, Sachin Galav and Nirmala Devi for the respective posts, while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) fielded Yogesh Dhingra, Manuar Khan and Jaswinder Kaur. Ramchander Yadav had entered the fray as an independent candidate for Deputy Mayor.
The polls were conducted by a show of hands instead of the earlier practice of a secret ballot. After raising their hands, councillors also gave verbal confirmation before the presiding officer, Ramneek Singh Bedi, a nominated councillor, who conducted the election for the post of Mayor.
The 35-member House of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation comprises 18 BJP councillors, 11 from the AAP and six from the Congress.
The Chandigarh Member of Parliament also has voting rights as an ex officio member. Notably, the Congress and the AAP did not forge an alliance for the mayoral polls this time.
Joshi secured 18 votes, while AAP candidate Yogesh Dhingra received 11 votes and Congress nominee Gurpreet Singh Gabi polled seven votes. Sitting Chandigarh MP Manish Tewari of the Congress raised his hand in support of his party’s candidate.
After Joshi was declared Mayor, he conducted the elections for the posts of Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor. The Congress abstained from voting in these elections. Following the mayoral vote, all six Congress councillors and MP Tewari left the House.
In the contest for Senior Deputy Mayor, BJP nominee Jasmanpreet Singh defeated AAP councillor Manuar Khan by 18 votes to 11. BJP councillor Suman Sharma won the Deputy Mayor’s post by defeating AAP nominee Jaswinder Kaur.
Ahead of the Deputy Mayor election, AAP councillor Ramchandra Yadav withdrew his candidature after having filed his nomination as an independent.