Chandigarh Municipal Re-Election: BJP's Rajinder Sharma Wins Deputy Mayor Post With 19 Votes

BJP's Rajinder Sharma defeated AAP, and Congress alliance with 19 votes.

BJP candidate Rajinder Sharma wins the election of Deputy Mayor of Chandigarh with 19 votes.

BJP's Rajinder Sharma was elected to the post of Deputy Mayor after the reelection in the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, which sparked widespread outrage as the AAP-Congress alliance accused the saffron party of manipulating the vote, news agency ANI reported. He defeated AAP, and Congress alliance with 19 votes. On the other hand, Congress-AAP alliance was able to secure 17 votes. 

Chandigarh Deputy Mayor elections | BJP candidate Rajinder Sharma wins the election of Deputy Mayor of Chandigarh with 19 votes.

BJP gets 19 votes, Congress+AAP get 17 votes. pic.twitter.com/6uObU9mLXT

— ANI (@ANI) March 4, 2024

Earlier today, BJP candidate Kuljeet Singh Sandhu won the senior Deputy Mayor's post in the reelection in the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation with 19 votes, while Gurpreet Gabi from the Congress party received 16. A single vote was found invalid. The mayor announced the results.

Chandigarh Mayor Election Row

On February 20, the Supreme Court nullified the results of the Chandigarh mayoral election held on January 30, which saw an unexpected victory for the BJP candidate. Instead, the court declared Kuldeep Kumar, the defeated candidate from the AAP-Congress alliance, as the new mayor of the city.

In a blow to the Congress-AAP alliance and the INDIA bloc, the BJP secured a clean sweep in the Chandigarh mayoral elections on January 30, maintaining control of all three positions. Allegations of ballot paper tampering by the presiding officer were raised by the Congress and AAP.

Manoj Sonkar of the BJP clinched victory over AAP's Kuldeep Kumar for the mayor's position, securing 16 votes compared to his rival's 12, with eight votes being deemed invalid.

Following the election outcome, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) referenced a video allegedly depicting presiding officer Anil Masih marking certain ballots. Subsequently, Masih confessed to tampering with the ballots, prompting the Supreme Court to request a recount.

The AAP leader argued that the alliance held 20 votes in the civic body compared to the BJP's 16, highlighting that eight alliance ballots were invalidated due to defacement.