The Chandigarh mayoral elections, which were scheduled to take place today, were postponed till further notice following the purported hospitalisation of presiding officer Anil Masih.
The decision prompted strong protest from the Congress and AAP who accused the BJP of resorting to undemocratic ways to avoid an imminent defeat.
Senior Congress leader Pawan Kumar Bansal confirmed the reports and alleged that the BJP wanted to somehow win the elections even as its strength is way less than the combined strength of the two INDIA allies.
“I have got information that the presiding officer has been hospitalised with the intention to postpone the mayor election by the BJP. They have done a totally undemocratic thing,” Bansal told reporters in Chandigarh.
Billed to be the first direct INDIA vs BJP contest, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress have formed an alliance for the Chandigarh mayoral elections.
The BJP has the most number of councillors in the 35-member municipal corporation house. The AAP is close secod with 13 members. The Congress and the SAD have seven and one councillors each respectively.
However, the combined strength of AAP and Congress is enough to win the mayor elections as BJP’s number could reach 15 in case the SAD supports its former alliance partner.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Congress leader had accused the BJP of trying to break other parties to secure victory in the mayoral polls.
“They (BJP) tried to make their own Mayor again but it was not successful so they’re trying everything…BJP is trying to break other parties and make their majority, it is their nature…,” Bansal had said.
The Congress leader also requested Chandigarh Administrator Banwari Lal Purohit to give orders to ensure transparency in the Mayoral elections so that only the candidate who gets majority through democratic means can win the election.
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