Amid tight security arrangements, Chandigarh mayoral polls begin

Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher, who has voting rights as an ex-officio member of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, was the first to cast vote at around 11:15 am.

Chandigarh: The mayoral polls in Chandigarh began on Tuesday with the BJP pitted against an alliance of the AAP and the Congress for the posts of mayor, senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor.

Presiding Officer Anil Masih, who occupied his chair around 10:40 am, started the poll process for the post of mayor.

Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher, who has voting rights as an ex-officio member of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, was the first to cast vote. She voted around 11:15 am at the building of the civic body.

Initially, voting for the post of mayor is taking place, and after counting of votes, the newly elected mayor will hold the elections to the posts of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor.

Chandigarh Deputy Commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh, who is the prescribed authority for the elections, was present during the poll process, which is being video-graphed.

Before the start of polling, the municipal corporation's joint commissioner gave a demonstration regarding the process and guidelines to be followed.

The polls, being held following the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, assume significance with opposition INDIA bloc members Congress and AAP joining hands to contest the elections against the BJP, which has held the mayor's post for the past eight years.

As part of the alliance, the AAP is contesting for the mayor's post while the Congress has fielded candidates for senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor.

Tight security arrangements have been made for the mayoral polls.

Around 700 police personnel, along with those from paramilitary forces, have been deployed for maintaining law and order during the election at the municipal corporation building, officials said.

The BJP has 14 councillors in the 35-member Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, the AAP has 13 councillors and the Congress seven. The Shiromani Akali Dal has one councillor.

The BJP has fielded Manoj Sonkar while the AAP has nominated Kumar for the post of mayor.

For the post of senior deputy mayor, the BJP's Kuljeet Sandhu will go up against the Congress' Gurpreet Singh Gabi.

Rajinder Sharma of the BJP will take on Congress candidate Nirmala Devi for the post of deputy mayor.

The polls were originally scheduled for January 18 but were deferred to February 6 by the Chandigarh administration after the presiding officer fell ill. The administration had at that time also said the polls were postponed after assessing the law-and-order situation.

The administration's order deferring the polls had triggered protests by the Congress and the AAP councillors.

Kuldeep Kumar, the AAP's candidate for the post of mayor, had challenged the Chandigarh deputy commissioner's order to defer the elections in the high court.

In its January 24 order, the high court directed the Chandigarh administration to hold the mayoral polls at 10 am on January 30. It also quashed the administration's January 18 order postponing the elections while holding it 'unreasonable, unjustified and arbitrary'.

The high court had also directed that the councillors who come to cast their votes shall not be accompanied by any supporters or security personnel belonging to any other state.

The Chandigarh Police will ensure security to the councillors, the court had said.

The police had also been asked to ensure that no ruckus or untoward incident takes place on or around the civic body premises during or after the election process.

Elections to the three posts are held every year during the House's five-year term. The Congress had abstained from voting in 2022 and 2023, leading to the BJP's victory in the polls.

The election of the mayor is done through secret ballots.

For this year's elections - the third for this term - the mayor's seat has been reserved for the Scheduled Caste category.