Just hours before the scheduled Supreme Court hearing on Monday, Chandigarh Mayor Manoj Sonkar tendered his resignation from the post on Sunday, clearing the path for a fresh mayoral election.
Reports suggest that three AAP councillors are poised to switch allegiance to the BJP, indicating their intention to support the BJP candidate during the upcoming Municipal Corporation House proceedings. The dissenting councillors identified as Gurcharanjit Singh Kala, Neha, and Poonum are anticipated to align with the BJP.
As it stands, the BJP commands a total of 15 votes within the Municipal Corporation House, comprising 14 councillors along with an ex officio member, typically an MP, in a house of 35 members. Meanwhile, the AAP holds 13 councillors, with the Congress maintaining a presence with seven, and the Shiromani Akali Dal represented by a single councillor.
This political realignment would significantly bolster the BJP's position, elevating their vote count to 18, while concurrently diminishing the AAP's influence to a mere 10 votes.
The significance of each vote in the mayoral election was underscored by the outcome of the previous year's contest in January. During that election, a total of 29 votes were cast, culminating in Anup Gupta of the BJP securing victory over Aam Aadmi Party's Jasbir Singh Laddi by a razor-thin margin of just one vote. Gupta clinched 15 votes, while Singh garnered 14, with the Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal abstaining from voting. A similar scenario unfolded in 2022, wherein the BJP candidate emerged victorious by a solitary vote after one ballot was deemed invalid due to various reasons.
Read also | Amid Speculation of Kamal Nath's Shift to BJP, His Follower MLAs Converge in Delhi
