Chandigarh
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday secured a clean sweep in the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation elections by winning the posts of mayor, senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor. BJP Councillor Saurabh Joshi was elected as the city’s new mayor.
Joshi received 18 votes, defeating AAP candidate Yogesh Dhingra, who received 11 votes, and Congress candidate Gurpreet Singh Gabi, who got seven votes only. Chandigarh MP also has a voting right as an ex officio member of the 35-member municipal corporation. Sitting MP Manish Tewari of the Congress raised his hand in support of his party’s nominee Gurpreet Singh Gabi.
The BJP also won both Deputy Mayor posts. Since the Congress did not contest the Deputy Mayor elections, BJP secured the remaining two positions without difficulty. BJP’s Jasmanpreet Singh was elected as senior Deputy Mayor and Suman Sharma was elected as Deputy Mayor. Both candidates received 18 votes each.
The election was conducted under the supervision of Presiding Officer Ramneek Singh Bedi and Deputy Commissioner Chandigarh Nishant Yadav, who directed councillors to follow standard operating procedures throughout the process. A key feature of this year’s polls was the return of the show-of-hands voting method, being used for the first time since 1996. According to rule, Councillors announced their choices openly, raised their hands, and signed after casting their votes. The voting process lasted around two hours and concluded peacefully, with officials reporting no incidents of cross-voting.
After being declared mayor, Joshi took charge as presiding officer for the election of the remaining top posts. This year’s election came against the backdrop of controversy surrounding the 2024 mayoral polls, which were marred by allegations of vote manipulation. In that case, the Supreme Court intervened, overturning an initial BJP win and declaring AAP’s Yogesh Dhingra as mayor. The fallout from last year’s incident prompted renewed calls for reforms, with several stakeholders, including Chandigarh MP Manish Tewari, advocating for open voting to prevent tampering and ensure greater accountability.
Historically, Chandigarh’s Municipal Corporation elections have not been covered by the anti-defection law, leading to repeated instances of cross-voting and allegations of corruption. These factors further strengthened the push for a more transparent process. Another significant element this year was the lack of coordination between Congress and AAP, which had earlier joined hands to challenge the BJP. Both parties fielded separate candidates, effectively improving BJP’s prospects in a House where it already held a numerical edge with 18 seats, compared to AAP’s 11 and Congress’s six. The city’s MP also has voting rights in the mayoral election.
