Chandigarh Mayor Polls: AAP Vs BJP Numbers Game May Depend on Other Parties

Both BJP and AAP have 14 Councillors in the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation.

The AAP and BJP are up for a neck and neck battle in the Chandigarh Mayor elections.

(Illustration: Chetan Bhakuni/The Quint)

The Chandigarh Mayoral Polls scheduled for 17 January are all set to be a one-on-one contest between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with both parties having 14 councillors each in the municipal corporation.

The Congress party, which has six councillors, opted out of the race on Thursday, 12 January.

On the same day, the AAP fielded Jasbir Singh, while the BJP went with Anup Gupta as their candidates for the polls.

Other candidates in the fray are:

• Taruna Mehta: AAP candidate for the post of Senior Deputy Mayor

• Kunwarjit Rana: BJP candidate for the post of Senior Deputy Mayor

• Suman Sharma: AAP candidate for the post of Deputy Mayor

• Harjit Singh: BJP candidate for the post of Deputy Mayor

Why are the mayor polls important, what do we know about the key candidates, and what are the chances of cross voting?

Why Are The Mayoral Polls Important?

The municipal corporation elections held in December 2021 saw the emergence of AAP as the party won 14 seats, whereas the BJP and the Congress managed to win only 12 and 8 seats respectively.

AAP's victory in Chandigarh was a prequel to the party's performance in the state Assembly elections held in February 2022 where it defeated the Congress in a landslide victory winning 92 out of 117 seats.

In the 2022 mayoral polls, however, BJP's Sarabjit Kaur defeated Anju Katyal of the AAP by a narrow margin. The mayoral race received 28 votes in the 36-member Assembly chamber. Seven Congress councillors and one Shiromani Akali Dal councillor were missing from the meeting. While the BJP won 14 votes, AAP won 13, and one vote was ruled invalid.

Days ahead of the 2022 mayor polls, Congress Councillor Harpreet Kaur Babla had joined the BJP taking the party's tally in the house from 12 to 13.

In June 2022, another Congress Councillor —  Gurcharan Jeet Singh Kala — joined the BJP, bumping the party's strength in the house to 14, which has now made the Mayor election a neck and neck battle.

More About the AAP and BJP Candidates

AAP's Mayoral candidate Jasbir Singh is a 38-year-old businessman who defeated former Mayor Davesh Moudgil, from the BJP, in Ward 21 that is Sector 47, in Faidan village.

BJP candidate Anup Gupta, also 38, was elected as a first time councillor in 2021 from Ward 11 — that covers sectors 18,19, and 21. Gupta served as the Deputy Mayor under Sarabjit Kaur, besides holding the post of BJP secretary.

Kirron Kher's Vote and The Chances of Cross Voting

As per sources, the Chandigarh units of the Congress and the SAD will most likely abstain from voting in the polls. The Congress Councillors, along with party president Harmohinder Singh Lucky are camping in Shimla.

In such a situation, the lone SAD Councillor may be deciding factor in the elections because even though both BJP and AAP have 14 Councillors each, the ruling party has the edge with the vote of ex-officio member — local MP Kirron Kher.

With the BJP having an extra vote, chances of cross-voting are high, considering every vote counts.