Mayoral poll in Chandigarh on January 8

Sandeep Rana
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, December 19

The stage is set for the 2021 mayoral poll in the city with the UT Administration declaring January 8 as the election date today. This time, the post is open for the general category. It will be the last Mayor of the current MC House as the next civic body elections are scheduled in the end of 2021.

Front runners

Arun Sood

Maheshinder Singh Sidhu

Ravi Kant Sharma

Shakti Prakash Devshali

The Mayor is elected from among the elected councillors in General House. There are a total 27 votes, 26 of elected councillors and one of ex officio member, i.e. the city MP. The nine nominated councillors have no voting right. A candidate needs 14 votes to get elected to the post.

The elections to the posts of Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor will also be held along with the mayoral poll. Nominated councillor Ajay Dutta will preside over the process.

Among the front runners for the post are councillors Arun Sood (city BJP president), Maheshinder Singh Sidhu, Ravi Kant Sharma and Shakti Prakash Devshali.

According to Sood, “The mayoral candidates have not been decided yet. The party’s local leadership, in consultation with the high command, will decide on it.”

Though the saffron party enjoys a stout majority with 20 councillors in the 27-member MC House, chances of cross-voting worry it due to infighting and factionalism.

It has a history of infighting especially during the mayoral polls. In 2017, Asha Jaswal was chosen a nominee. But within a few days after getting elected Mayor, she and Sood were blamed by councillor Heera Negi for her defeat in the F&CC elections.

• BJP has stout majority
  Total votes 27
  Elected councillors 26
  BJP 20
  Congress 5
  SAD 1
  Ex officio member (MP) 1

Next year when Davesh Moudgil was chosen a mayoral candidate, Jaswal, accompanied by Sood and other councillors, filed separate nominations in protest, though she withdrew later after intervention of the high command.

In 2019 when Rajesh Kalia was chosen a nominee, Satish Kainth filed his nomination in protest. He lost poll and things went so wrong that he later joined the Congress.

This year when Raj Bala Malik was chosen a mayoral candidate, Heera Negi criticised the move and even showed her annoyance towards MP Kirron Kher in public. Chandrawati Shukla, too, had attempted to choose a path other than the party line, but was dissuaded later.

Meanwhile, the Leader of the Opposition, Devinder Singh Babla (Congress), said: “Our party is yet to make up its mind, but it’s certain we will contest all three posts. We will wait and watch.”