After the contentious municipal elections in January this year, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led by Mayor Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor and its INDIA bloc alliance partner Congress on Tuesday passed a resolution at the meeting of the Municipal House of Representatives that “show of hands” would be used during the municipal election. vote in future elections instead of the currently planned secret ballot.

While Congress and AAP councilors termed the adoption of the resolution as a step in the right direction to clean up the city’s electoral system, BJP councilors opposed it, saying “the councilors of the AAP are trying to grab the fundamental right of the people.”

In response, AAP councilors targeted the BJP, alleging that the saffron group was already planning “inappropriate means” to win the January 2025 municipal elections.

The agenda tabled in the House read: “In recent years, there have been controversies regarding the election of officers of municipal corporations due to the regulation of their election by secret ballot. In order to facilitate a transparent and fair electoral process for years to come, it is proposed that the existing regulations of 1996 be amended and it is recommended that the election to the positions of Mayor, Deputy Principal Mayor and Deputy Principal mayor takes place by means of an electoral demonstration. hands. It is therefore requested to amend Regulation 6 of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation (Procedure and Conduct of Business) Regulations, 1996, and that the elections be held by show of hands.

The resolution will be sent to the UT administration for final approval and amendment of the law.

“As per the MC Act, MC House can change these rules and the show of hands will ensure that there is no horse-trading before the annual elections. After what happened this year, the resolution was important for free and fair elections,” said AAP advisor Yogesh Dhingra.

Expressing disagreement with the resolution, BJP councilor Maheshinder Singh Sidhu said, “We had earlier passed a resolution that an anti-defection law should be implemented in Chandigarh MC. The resolution is still pending with the Union ministry. Instead of adopting an open provision, we should ask the concerned officials to review the current decision, as it will automatically make the election procedure free and fair.”

In Chandigarh, elections for the posts of Mayor, Deputy Chief Mayor and Deputy Mayor are held every year in late December or first week of January.

The first mandate is reserved for a candidate in the general category, the second for any candidate in the general category, the third for a candidate in the SC category, the fourth for a candidate in the general category and the fifth for the general category. The seats of deputy mayor and deputy mayor are not reserved.

An election full of controversies

Since the municipal elections were announced on January 10, they have sparked multiple controversies. Firstly, the elections were postponed from January 18 to February 6 by the UT. After the intervention of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the UT decided to hold the elections on January 30. But what happened on January 30 made national headlines when the AAP-Congress combine accused President Anil Masih of vote tampering.

After the counting of votes, Masih, a BJP leader, had declared Sonkar, the saffron party candidate, the winner, even as the Congress-AAP alliance had 20 votes in the House while the BJP had 16. Masih reportedly declared eight votes obtained by poll. Dhalor was declared invalid, leading to huge controversy as he was caught on live cameras defacing the eight votes.

On February 20, the apex court declared AAP candidate Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor the winner of the mayor’s seat, after noting that Masih’s defacement of the eight ballot papers in question was “obvious”. Additionally, the supreme court ordered fresh elections for the other two positions. Masih now faces perjury proceedings in the Supreme Court.