The AAP and Congress alliance maintain a mixed whole of 20 votes.

Chandigarh:

The Chandigarh mayoral election will happen right this moment, pitting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) towards an alliance of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress. In what would be the first conflict between the NDA and the INDIA bloc earlier than the overall elections, an in depth police deployment has been organized, involving round 800 police personnel and extra forces from the paramilitary, with a three-layer barricade securing the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation. 

Originally scheduled for January 18, the mayoral polls have been postponed to February 6 by the Chandigarh administration because of the sickness of the presiding officer Anil Masih. The choice to defer was additionally attributed to the prevailing law-and-order state of affairs. However, this transfer was met with protests from Congress and AAP councillors. Mr Masih, who, regardless of obvious well being points, was reappointed because the presiding authority.

The Chandigarh Press Club has additionally appealed to the Centre to allow media protection of the voting course of, regardless of an preliminary denial of entry to journalists.

In the 35-member Municipal Corporation House, the AAP and Congress alliance maintain a mixed whole of 20 votes, posing a formidable problem to the BJP’s 15 votes, which incorporates 14 councillors and the extra vote of MP Kirron Kher. The magic quantity for victory stands at 19.

The election course of has not been with out its share of authorized hurdles. The Punjab and Haryana High Court, in its January 24 order, directed the Chandigarh administration to conduct the mayoral polls right this moment, quashing the sooner postponement deemed “unreasonable, unjustified, and arbitrary.” The courtroom harassed the necessity without spending a dime and truthful elections, prohibiting councillors from being accompanied by supporters or safety personnel from different states.

All events concerned have adopted a cautious method, conserving their councillors on the transfer earlier than the polling day.

The AAP-Congress alliance has strategically nominated candidates for the varied positions. Kuldeep Kumar, representing the AAP, is contesting for the mayoral submit, whereas the Congress is fielding candidates for senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor.

The AAP-Congress alliance seeks to interrupt the BJP’s eight-year rule 

Voting is ready to start at 10 am. The Congress abstained from voting in 2022 and 2023, ensuing within the BJP’s victory in these polls. The election course of for the mayor’s place is carried out by way of a secret poll.

In this 12 months’s elections, the mayor’s seat is reserved for the Scheduled Caste class, with Manoj Sonkar representing the BJP and Mr Kumar from the AAP because the contenders. The senior deputy mayor submit will see Kuljeet Sandhu of the BJP dealing with off towards Congress’s Gurpreet Singh Gabi, whereas the deputy mayor place will probably be contested between BJP’s Rajinder Sharma and Congress’s Nirmala Devi.