AAP, Congress To Jointly Contest Jan 18 Chandigarh Mayoral Polls As Both Reach Consensus On Posts

The Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress have arrived at a consensus on contesting the Chandigarh mayoral polls. The AAP and the Congress are yet to strike out an alliance for 2024 polls.

Congress and AAP to jointly contest Chandigarh mayor elections on January 18 ( Image Source :X/@AAPforNewIndia )

In a significant shift, the Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress have arrived at an understanding on contesting the Chandigarh mayoral polls in an alliance, sources said on Monday. This development came while the AAP and the Congress, both constituents of the I.N.D.I.A bloc, holding talks over seat sharing for Lok Sabha polls that will be held this year. 

Under the arrangement, AAP will fight for the mayor's seat while Congress will contest the posts of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor, reported news agency PTI.

While talking to news agency ANI, Congress leader Pawan Kumar Bansal confirmed that both parties were discussing the same, and it was decided that the AAP would contest the Mayor's post while the Congress would contest the remaining two.

"Lok Sabha elections are to come later; before that, the corporation elections have come. We have been discussing the same and it has been decided that AAP will contest for the post of mayor and Congress will contest for the post of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor. The result of this will be that our candidate from the INDIA bloc will be successful with a good majority," he remarked.

He continued by saying, "On national issues, we know that there is agreement between Congress and AAP. Meetings have been held between different parties in which a consensus has been reached. At this time, everyone has gathered together to save the feelings of democracy."

Meanwhile, AAP leader Malvinder Singh Kang told PTI that his party with the Congress will deliver a clean sweep. "We are hopeful that on January 18, we will achieve the position of Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Senior Deputy Mayor,” he said.

At present, In the 35-member Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, the BJP has 14 councillors and an MP. The AAP has 13 councillors and the Congress party has seven. 
The Shiromani Akali Dal has one councillor in the House.

Polls for the posts of mayor, senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor will be held on Thursday.

18 votes are required for the majority, of which BJP has the maximum of 15 votes. However, if the Aam Aadmi Party and Congress come together then they will have a total of 20 votes. The Congress abstained from voting in 2022 and 2023, leading to the BJP's victory in the mayoral polls

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