Revolt as BJP names mayoral nominees

Sandeep Rana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 4

History repeated itself today as the ruling BJP saw rebellion in the party after the announcement of the mayoral candidates.

Senior Deputy Mayor and councillor Ravi Kant Sharma was declared the BJP candidate for the post of Mayor and councillors Maheshinder Singh Sidhu and Farmila as the candidates for the posts of Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor, respectively.

Saffron party no alien to rebellion

• 2017: Asha Jaswal nominated to the post; within days of being elected as Mayor, Jaswal and Arun Sood were blamed by Heera Negi for her defeat in the F&CC elections
• 2018: Davesh Moudgil nominated; Jaswal, Sood and other councillors filed separate nominations in protest, though they withdrew their nominations later
• 2019: Rajesh Kalia nominated; Satish Kainth filed nomination in protest, lost the election and later joined the Congress
• 2020: Raj Bala Malik nominated; Negi criticised the move openly; Chandrawati Shukla tried to file nomination

Red alert for BJP

During the 2019 mayoral elections, BJP rebel Satish Kainth fought as an independent candidate for the post of Mayor and managed to get as many as 11 votes. BJP nominee Rajesh Kalia had got only five votes more than the rebel in the 27-member House.

Congress candidates file nominations

Chandigarh: Congress councillor Devinder Singh Babla filed his nomination for the post of Mayor on Monday. Party councillors Ravinder Kaur Gujral and Satish Kainth filed papers for the posts of Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor, respectively. Since it is the last mayoral poll of the current MC, the Congress tried to put up a united face. Its former Mayors, including Subhash Chawla, ex-councillors and the city unit president were present at the time of filing of nominations. TNS

Soon after the trio filed their nomination papers, disgruntled party councillor Chandrawati Shukla filed her nomination for the post of Mayor. Congress councillors Devinder Singh Babla and Satish Kainth became her proposers in the nomination form, though the BJP termed it invalid.

The saffron party got the second blow when councillor Bharat Kumar resigned from the party in protest against Famila’s candidature. To make most of the opportunity, city Congress president Pardeep Chhabra announced that they will support Shukla and party candidate Babla may withdraw his nomination. Earlier in the day, the BJP was to file the nominations at 4 pm. But in view of a tussle over the selection of candidates, it could be filed after 4:30 pm.

City BJP incharge Dushyant Gautam and organisation secretary Dinesh Kumar arrived at the Mayor’s office in Sector 17 where all party councillors were already present. Till this time, Maheshinder’s name for the post of the Mayor was doing the rounds.

After the announcement, Bharat Kumar openly conveyed his displeasure to the party. He sought one of the top three positions in the MC House. However, he was denied the nomination. “I resigned as those involved in anti-party (read Farmila) activities were entertained,” he told reporters.

Shukla walked out of the meeting. Meanwhile, all three party nominees filed nominations. Later, Chandrawati, led by her husband Pappu Shukla, came with Babla and Kainth. Gaurav Goyal, BJP spokesperson, tried to stop Pappu but he shouted at him and asked him to stay away.

Councillor Asha Jaswal, who had revolted against the party in 2018, told Chandrawati, “Learn from my mistake. It is not good to go against the party.” But the latter did not relent. “Are we only in the party to get Uttar Pradesh and Bihar crowd,” said Pappu.

Chhabra alleged, “The BJP has always treated the people of Uttarakhand and Purvanchal only as a vote bank. The party’s nominee for the post of Mayor has been accused of corruption in the past four years. This shows the arrogance and ideological bankruptcy of the BJP.”

In reply, city BJP president Arun Sood said, “The nominations of both Babla and Shukla are invalid as the former, who himself filed a nomination for the post of Mayor, cannot become a proposer for the same post as per rules. Besides, we have a number of councillors and office-bearers from Purvanchal and Uttarakhand. The Congress should also give a proof of allegations against our candidate for the post of Mayor. We will file a defamation case against them.”

“Chandrawati Shukla and Bharat Kumar’s decisions were spontaneous. I have visited their houses and convinced them. We have all our 20 councillors’ votes intact,” he claimed. From BJP, Sidhu, Sood and Shakti Prakash were also the front runners for the top post.

Number game may not be easy for BJP

Though there are 27 votes to be polled for the mayoral elections, MP Kirron Kher, the ex officio member, and councillor Heera Negi are not expected to vote as they are hospitalised. The lone councillor of the party’s ex-ally SAD has already declared to boycott the poll. Two councillors of the BJP have already revolted against the party decision. There could be cross-voting too. Thus, getting a simple majority could be tough for the party. Even if the BJP loses a few votes, it will boost the confidence of the Congress, which has only five councillors against 20 of the BJP.