Chandigarh, December 21: The elections for the posts of Mayor, Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor will be held on January 18. Deputy Commissioner Mandip Singh Brar announced the election schedule today. The elections will be held at 11 am in the assembly hall of the MC building.
Candidates can file their papers till January 14. The candidature has to be proposed and seconded by two members of the corporation. This time, the post of Mayor is reserved for a candidate of the Scheduled Caste category.
Ajay Dutta, nominated councillor, will preside over the meeting and conduct the election proceedings. While the Deputy Commissioner announced the election date, Devinder Singh Babla, Leader of the Opposition in the MC and Congress councillor, opposed the delay in holding the mayoral elections.
He said during the Congress regime, the elections were held on January 1 every year without fail. He said it was only during the BJP regime that the date of the mayoral elections was fixed as per its whims and fancies. He termed it undemocratic, saying that the BJP had made a mockery of the MC.
However, Satya Pal Jain, a former MP, said the election date was fixed after considering various factors by the Administration.
He said as per the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act, implemented in the UT, the Mayor would continue in office till the election of the new Mayor. Davesh Moudgil , BJP councillor from Ward 22, was elected the 22nd Mayor of the city on January 9 this year. Moudgil had got 22 of the 27 votes and was elected for a one-year term.
4 in race for top post from BJP
Four councillors from the BJP are in the race for the Mayor’s post this time. They are Satish Kainth, Bharat Kumar, Farmila and Rajesh Kalia. While Sheela Devi is the only SC councillor from the Congress, the BJP will have a tough time selecting a candidate for the post due to factionalism in the party.
Sources said the BJP was likely to announce the name of the candidate near the election date. In the current House, four councillors are from Congress, 20 from the BJP, one Independent and one from the SAD, which has an alliance with the BJP. The city MP is an ex officio member of the House and has a vote. To become a Mayor, a candidate needs 14 of the 27 votes.
Mayor’s post reserved for SC candidate
Candidates can file their nomination papers till January 14. The candidature has to be proposed and seconded by two members of the Municipal Corporation. This time, the post of Mayor has been reserved for a candidate belonging to the Scheduled Caste category.
