Chandigarh Mayoral polls: Saffron party tastes defeat after 8 years

Chandigarh: Supreme Court’s verdict today brought a major embarrassment to the ruling BJP, as it is the first mayoral poll defeat for the saffron party after ruling the Municipal Corporation for eight consecutive years.

It is also the first major win of the INDIA bloc, under which AAP and the Congress joined hands to defeat the BJP in the mayoral polls. In a major blow to the BJP, its plan for a repoll to the post of mayor fell flat after the SC order today.

On the eve of the Supreme Court’s hearing, the BJP had got Mayor Manoj Sonkar resigned after three AAP councillors joined the saffron party. It was hoping that even in the worst case scenario, a re-election might be ordered by the court and its mayoral candidate will again win as it enjoyed a majority in the MC House post AAP councillors’ switch.

On the contrary, the apex court preferred to check the eight votes, which were marked and declared invalid by presiding officer Anil Masih. All these votes were polled in favour of alliance candidate and AAP councillor Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor. The court found these valid, leading to Dhalor’s win.

As Dhalor was announced the winner, AAP and Congress councillors went into the celebration mode, dancing to the tune of dhols and distributing sweets. Later, AAP and Congress councillors held a joint press conference in Sector 39.

Meanwhile, in a statement, former Union minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said, “I express concern over the BJP’s tactics in a relatively small-town election and caution that the nation should take note of such manoeuvres, raising apprehensions about the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. .”

BJP chief Jatinder Pal Malhotra did not answer the phone calls made by this correspondent.