In a setback to the INDIA bloc constituents Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Congress, the rival BJP won both the senior deputy mayor and the deputy mayor seats here on Monday. The BJP’s Kuljeet Sandhu secured 19 votes and won the election for senior deputy mayor post of Chandigarh defeating AAP-Congress combine candidate Gurpreet Gabi by three votes in the house of 36 members - Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher, who is a BJP member, also has voting rights as an ex-officio member of the Municipal Corporation (MC). One vote was declared invalid.
Likewise BJP’s Rajendra Sharma won the post of deputy mayor with 19 votes while the alliance candidate Nirmala Devi got 17 votes. The newly elected mayor Kuldeep Kumar of AAP was the presiding authority for both these elections. The BJP which earlier had 14 seats had improved its strength on February 19 last after three AAP councillors hopped over to the saffron party – Punam Devi, Neha Musawat and Gurcharan Kala.
BJP’s Manoj Sonkar was declared winner for the mayor post
It may be recalled that BJP’s Manoj Sonkar was declared winner for the mayor post on January 30 election which smacked of glaring irregularities by the then presiding authority Anil Masih (a nominated councillor of BJP) as he declared eight of the total 36 votes polled, as invalid.
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The AAP then had 13 councillors and Congress, seven (total 20). The Supreme Court subsequently declared (AAP’s) councillor Kuldeep Kumar the winner of the mayoral poll. Meanwhile, several BJP councillors hinted at the possibility of a fresh mayoral election saying that ``picture abhi baki hai’’. Sonkar also told the media that anything could happen. Kher also took a dig at the AAP and Congress highlighting that even in Monday’s election one vote was invalidated suggesting that dissent still persisted in the alliance.
