Blow to AAP-Cong, 3 cross-votes help BJP clinch Chandigarh Mayor’s post

A year after it suffered a major embarrassment in the UT mayoral poll “rigging” fiasco, the BJP today took sweet revenge as its mayoral candidate Harpreet Kaur Babla defeated the AAP-Congress joint candidate, Prem Lata, by two votes in an election full of twists and turns.

The mayoral election, expected to favour the alliance, took an unexpected turn when cross-voting turned the tide in favour of the BJP. Babla, a councillor from Ward 10, secured 19 votes, while Prem Lata, from Ward 23, bagged 17, leaving AAP and Congress leaders stunned.

Having counted on a comfortable majority of 20 votes, the Congress-AAP alliance was caught off guard by the internal cracks within its own camp. The close fight not only exposed vulnerabilities in opposition ranks but also highlighted the BJP’s strategic manoeuvring. With this win, the BJP has strengthened its hold over Chandigarh’s civic administration, while the

AAP-Congress alliance is left grappling with the bitter reality of defections — a reminder that in politics, the battle isn’t won until the last vote is counted. Despite losing the Mayor’s seat to the BJP, the alliance’s Jasbir Singh Bunty emerged victorious as Senior Deputy Mayor and Taruna Mehta secured the Deputy Mayor’s post, offering the combine a partial win in an otherwise unexpected setback.

Both the contestants secured 19 votes each, while BJP’s Senior Deputy Mayor candidate Bimala Dubey and Deputy Mayor candidate Lakhbir Singh Billu got 17 votes each. With the BJP having 16 votes in the 36-member House, both its Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor candidates got one extra vote each due to cross-voting. However, one cross-vote was received by all candidates of the

BJP. The House has 35 members, while Congress MP Manish Tewari holds the ex-officio vote in the Municipal Corporation.

The voting for the mayoral election started at 11.20 am in the assembly hall of the Municipal Corporation’s office under the supervision of Justice Jaishree Thakur, a retired judge from the Punjab and Haryana High Court. She was appointed an observer by the Supreme Court to supervise the election after the last year’s fiasco, when presiding officer Anil Masih defaced eight votes during the mayoral elections. The voting for mayoral election ended at 12.19 pm. The results were declared by presiding officer Dr Ramneek Singh Bedi.