Setting aside the Chandigarh administration’s order of re-scheduling the mayoral polls for the Municipal Corporation to February 6, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday directed the elections to be conducted on January 30.
The Court’s decision came on a petition filed by Kuldeep Kumar, an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor, challenging the order of the Chandigarh Deputy Commissioner, of January 18, in which the elections for the post of mayor, senior deputy mayor, and deputy mayor for Chandigarh MC were deferred for February 6.
Petitioner’s counsel advocate Gurminder Singh said that the Division Bench of Justice Sudhir Singh and Justice Harsh Bunger has set aside the Chandigarh administration’s order, and now the polls will be held at 10 a.m. on January 30.
The MC mayoral polls couldn’t be held on January 18 as the election presiding officer fell sick, and later the Deputy Commissioner re-scheduled the polls for February 6. The Congress and the AAP, both INDIA bloc partners, who had joined hands to contest the mayoral elections for Chandigarh MC, alleged that it was at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that the elections were deferred.
The Congress and the AAP, both INDIA bloc partners, had decided to jointly contest the mayoral elections. As per the alliance, the Congress contested the posts of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor while the APP fought for the mayor’s post. This year, the mayor’s seat was reserved for the Scheduled Caste (SC) category.
In the Chandigarh MC, there are 35 councillors while the Member of Parliament from Chandigarh (of the BJP) is an ex-officio member of the municipal corporation, and also has a voting right. The BJP has 14 councillors. The AAP has 13 councillors while the Congress has seven councillors. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has one member in the House.