On Monday, the AAP and the Congress announced that they would fight the Chandigarh Mayor polls together to dethrone the BJP, which has been ruling the municipal corporation for the last eight years.
How It All Unveiled:
On Wednesday, a ruckus broke out between the BJP and Congress-AAP workers at the municipal corporation office. The incident occurred when Congress municipal councillor Jasbir Singh Bunty came to withdraw his nomination papers from the post of mayor. Bunty was initially the Congress candidate for the post of mayor.
However, after the Congress and the AAP announced an alliance for the mayoral posts, a decision was taken that the AAP would fight for the post of mayor and the Congress would fight for the posts of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor. Later, Mr Bunty, in a video message, clarified that he was with Congress and will remain with it.
The strength of the House:
In the 35-member Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, the BJP has the support of 14 councillors and MP Kiron Kher, who has voting rights. The AAP has 13 councillors on their side; the Congress has seven. The Shiromani Akali Dal has one councillor in the House.The AAP-Congress alliance brings the number to 20, 5 less than the single largest party, the BJP. This means the INDIA alliance was going to sweep the polls. However, there is a twist in the tale.
Hours before the voting on Thursday, the polling was postponed till further orders, citing the “ill health” of nominated presiding officer Anil Masih. AAP leader Raghav Chaddha has reacted to the postponement of the polls.
“BJP is gripped by ‘democracy-phobia’ – a fear of democracy and free & fair elections. BJP is scared of INDIA’s triumph. With 20 out of the 36 votes in its favour, the INDIA alliance is poised to win the Chandigarh Mayoral Elections. BJP is all set to lose badly. This has given the BJP sleepless nights and forced its dirty tricks department to work overtime. Result? First, the Secretary of Elections falls sick, and now, the Presiding Officer has also fallen sick. All this to adjourn the election. This is a deliberate attempt to postpone elections, and undeniably serves as an evidence that the BJP is, without a doubt, afraid of INDIA alliance.”
Taking a dig at the BJP further, the AAP leader said: “BJP is like a disgruntled child who, upon being called out in gully cricket, takes away the bat and declares an end to the game. Is our democracy so weak that elections will only happen when the BJP is winning, and elections will be adjourned if the BJP is losing?”
BJP is gripped by ‘democracy-phobia’ – a fear of democracy and free & fair elections.
BJP is scared of INDIA’s triumph.
With 20 out of the total 36 votes in its favor, INDIA alliance is poised to win the Chandigarh Mayoral Elections. BJP is all set to lose badly. This has given…
— Raghav Chadha (@raghav_chadha) January 18, 2024
The Congress also echoed similar sentiments.
Does this mean all is well between the Congress and the AAP and a smooth seat-sharing process for the Lok Sabha elections can occur? On Wednesday, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann responded to whether the AAP will forge an alliance with the Congress for the Lok Sabha Elections. The AAP leader said the AAP will win all the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab. The response indicates that the AAP has yet to finalise seat-sharing arrangements with the Congress.
Out of the 13 Lok Sabha seats, the Congress won 8 seats, the BJP won 2, The Shiromani Akali Dal won 2, and the AAP won 1 seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections.
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