Chandigarh Admn presses for over 2 years for Mayor, deputies

Thirtytwo years after Chandigarh became the only city after Bengaluru in India to elect its Mayor every single year, the UT Administration has moved the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), proposing a two-and-a-half-year tenure for the Mayor, Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor of the Municipal Corporation (MC).

Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria has taken up the matter with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who has assured him that the proposal will be examined and approved at the appropriate level.

“The Chandigarh Administration intends to enhance the tenure of the offices of Mayor, Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor from one year to two and a half years in order to provide sufficient time for effective implementation of the vision and policies of the Mayor,” Kataria told The Tribune.

The administration has submitted to the MHA a draft notification, duly vetted, seeking an amendment to Section 38 of the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act, 1976, as extended to the Union Territory of Chandigarh through the Punjab Municipal Corporation Law (Extension to Chandigarh) Act, 1994. Section 38 currently mandates a one-year term for the three top civic offices.

The MHA will now examine the proposal and, if cleared, forward it to the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs for the introduction of an amendment Bill in Parliament. Once Parliament passes the Bill, the Chandigarh Administration will issue formal orders effecting the change and prescribe a fresh reservation roster for the three offices ahead of the next MC elections, due in December this year.

32 YEARS OF ANNUAL POWER GAMES

When the MC was constituted in May 1994 under the Punjab Municipal Corporation Law (Extension to Chandigarh) Act, the parent Punjab law, which prescribed a five-year mayoral tenure, it was modified specifically for the UT, reducing the term of the Mayor and deputies to just one year.

The result: A civic body plagued by political instability, allegations of horse-trading and near-constant electioneering within the 35-member House, with the Mayor and deputies perpetually looking over their shoulders instead of governing. The system has drawn sharp criticism from across the political spectrum as one that hollows out democratic accountability and disrupts long-term civic planning.

In a significant procedural reform last year, Governor Kataria amended the election regulations to replace the secret ballot with a show of hands, a change aimed at curbing horse-trading. The new system was used for the first time in the MC’s history on January 29, 2026. The BJP retained the Mayor’s post, a party that has now held the office for 16 terms on its own and two more through a former ally.

MP HAD PITCHED FIVE YEARS

The administration’s proposal comes months after Chandigarh MP Manish Tewari introduced a more sweeping amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha in December 2025, seeking a directly elected Mayor with a full five-year tenure co-terminus with the MC’s term, along with a radical restructuring of governance powers away from the UT Administrator.

Former two-time Chandigarh MP and current Additional Solicitor General of India Satya Pal Jain called the 2.5-year proposal “a good idea in principle” that would strengthen democratic accountability, while backing deeper structural reforms including direct election of the Mayor, greater financial and administrative autonomy, constitution of a Mayor-in-Council or Metropolitan Council, and applicability of the Anti-Defection Law to councillors. “If any elected representative elected on a party ticket wants to switch sides, he should resign and seek a fresh mandate,” he said.

WHAT THE LAW SAYS NOW

Section 38 of the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act, 1976 (extended to Chandigarh) mandates election of the Mayor, Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor from among councillors at the Corporation’s first meeting, within one month of the notification of councillors’ election, with all three serving a one-year term.