From ballot to show of hands: Chandigarh’s mayor election set for historic face‑off

Mayor Amarjit Singh Jitti Sidhu and Congress councillors address the media at the Municipal Corporation Bhawan. (Express Photo by Jasbir Malhi)

The UT Administration’s decision to conduct Chandigarh mayoral polls through a “show of hands” has brought the BJP and the AAP‑Congress alliance head‑to‑head, with both camps holding 18 votes each. The election for Mayor, Senior Deputy Mayor, and Deputy Mayor will be held on January 29. For the first time since the inaugural Municipal Corporation elections in 1996, the mayoral contest will be decided by a show of hands rather than a secret ballot.

Secret ballot voting in the past often led to cross‑voting, but under the new system, any councillor defying party lines risks strict disciplinary action. Interestingly, all major political parties in Chandigarh have welcomed the change.

Senior BJP leader Sanjay Tandon remarked that it would be a fully transparent system to elect the mayor, leaving no room for doubt about how councillors cast their votes. AAP’s Chandigarh unit president Vijay Pal Singh said the move was the result of consistent efforts and repeated memorandums to the UT Administrator‑cum‑Punjab Governor, adding that the administration should now take all parties into confidence regarding its implementation.

Congress leader and former councillor Chander Mukhi Sharma recalled that in 2024, the Municipal Corporation House had passed a resolution seeking elections by show of hands when Congress‑backed AAP Mayor Kuldeep Kumar was heading the civic body. He noted that despite the resolution, the demand was not met until Chandigarh MP Manish Tewari pursued the matter at various platforms. Sharma expressed hope that the new system would finally put an end to cross‑voting.

Kuldeep Kumar’s election in 2024 had drawn nationwide attention after the Supreme Court declared him Mayor, overturning the result that initially gave victory to BJP’s Manoj Sonkar. Initially, BJP’s Sonkar had been declared winner, defeating Kumar 16–12. Kumar had alleged electoral malpractice by returning officer Anil Masih. Then, a three-judge bench presided by the then Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud perused the ballot papers and said that the eight ballots on which Masih had made a marking, and were later counted as invalid, were duly cast in favour of Kuldeep Kumar.

In the 2021 Municipal Corporation polls, the AAP emerged as the largest party with 14 seats, followed by the BJP with 12 and Congress with eight. The Shiromani Akali Dal won one ward, though its councillor later joined AAP. Since then, the BJP has won three mayoral elections. In 2025, despite having only 16 councillors against the AAP‑Congress alliance’s 20, the BJP’s Harpreet Kaur Babla won the mayoral contest against the AAP’s Prem Lata, securing 19 votes to her 17.

Recently, AAP councillors Poonam and Suman Sharma joined the BJP, raising its strength to 18. AAP now has 11 councillors, while Congress holds six seats in the 35‑member House. Congress also has the vote of its MP Manish Tewari, which counts in the mayoral polls, bringing both camps to an equal tally of 18 votes each.

Congress’s Chander Mukhi Sharma cautioned that the BJP might still attempt horse‑trading. Chandigarh BJP president Jatinder Pal Malhotra credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s policies for the latest developments, saying the party was comfortable with all modes of elections. He pointed out that the system of EVMs was introduced during the Congress regime and welcomed by the BJP, yet now Congress was opposing the very system it had once implemented.

The AAP’s Vijay Pal Singh reiterated the party’s demand for an anti‑defection law, stressing that elected councillors should not be allowed to switch sides after leaving their original party. He said the party would continue to press for this safeguard.