Days after SC jolt, BJP wins senior deputy mayor, deputy mayor posts in Chandigarh

The BJP on Monday won the re-election for the posts of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, defeating the Congress candidates who were backed by the AAP.

The Supreme Court had on February 20 declared AAP councillor Kuldeep Kumar as the new mayor of the corporation after it overturned the result of the January 30 mayoral poll in which BJP candidate Manoj Sonkar had emerged the winner.

Its judgment had come on allegations of tampering with ballots during the January mayoral polls. As the mayor is the presiding officer for the elections to the posts of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor, the polls were held again on Monday after the change in the mayoral post following the court's judgment.

For the post of senior deputy mayor, BJP's Kuljeet Sandhu defeated Congress' Gurpreet Gabi. While Sandhu polled 19 votes, Gabi got 16, and one vote was declared invalid.

Rajinder Sharma of the BJP defeated Congress' Nirmala Devi to win the deputy mayor's post. The winning candidate secured 19 votes of the total 36 polled.

The BJP had fielded the same set of candidates last time and they had won then too.

In the 35-member municipal House, the BJP has 17 councillors. The number of BJP's strength increased from 14 to 17 after three AAP councillors switched over to it on February 19.

The AAP has 10 members while the Congress has seven. The Shiromani Akali Dal has one councillor. Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher, who is a BJP member, also has voting rights as an ex-officio member of the corporation.

(With agency inputs)