Who will don Chandigarh Mayor's cap

To get its candidate elected as the Mayor, any political party needs a simple majority of 19 votes. There are 35 votes of councillors and one of ex-officio member, i.e. local MP (BJP’s Kirron Kher). Technically, the BJP has 13 seats, one less than AAP in the House. However, the catch is that since it is a secret voting in House, any party may have its own candidate as the First Citizen by dint of cross-voting, which has been seen on many occasions in the past. The city Mayor has one-year term and the first term is reserved for a woman councillor. — TNS

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Missing star campaigners: Did BJP sense defeat?

It seems some BJP leaders had sensed defeat long before. Perhaps this is the reason, its listed star campaigners, Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, did not turn up in the city though the party claimed they had their engagements. AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal and Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia among other Delhi MLAs made their presence felt in the city. Kejriwal had addressed a rally in Sector 43. — TNS

Poll different on several counts

This year’s MC poll was different from all previous ones for many reasons. The 13 villages, which were earlier under the UT Administration, were merged with the MC. Their residents were the new voters and it seemed many leaders had no idea about their voting behaviour and aspirations.

The number of wards was increased from 26 to 35. Owing to an increase in the number of seats, ward delimitation was carried out which affected the political calculations of the sitting councillors.

This time, the old partners, the SAD and the BJP, parted their ways over the farm laws issue. While the BJP contested 35 seats, its former ally fought in alliance with the BSP. AAP also contested for the first time here.

Besides, several rebels contested as Independents. In view of multi-cornered fronts, poll pundits failed to guess that AAP was going to make it big in the poll. Many had predicted only three to five seats for AAP. — TNS