Chandigarh mayoral elections which were scheduled to be held on Thursday have been put off till February 6 after the presiding officer fell sick.
According to an order issued by Chandigarh’s Deputy Commissioner, the elections for the post of Mayor, senior Deputy Mayor, and Deputy Mayor for Chandigarh MC will now be held on February 6.
“In pursuance to the report received from the senior superintendent of police regarding security and law and order situation due to scheduled elections of Mayor and deputy mayor and report of medical superintendent with regard to the hospitalization of appointed nominated presiding authority Anil Masih due to ill health, the order is issued,” it read.
Before the Chandigarh mayoral elections were to be held, several councillors said that they received a WhatsApp message in an official group that read: “It is informed that a telephonic message has been received regarding the ill health of Anil Masih, who has been nominated as presiding authority for the meeting scheduled on January 18 for the post of Mayor u/60 (a) read with Regulation 6 (1) of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation (Procedure and Conduct of Business) Regulation, 1996. In view of the above, it is requested not to reach the MC office till further orders are received.”
AAP and Congress angry
Meanwhile the AAP and Congress (INDIA bloc members) accused the BJP of not allowing holding the Chandigarh mayoral polls because they expected a defeat in the elections and also said that they would move the Punjab and Haryana High Court to hold the elections.
“I have got information that the presiding officer has been hospitalized with the intention to postpone the mayor election by the BJP. They have done a totally undemocratic thing,” Congress leader Pawan Kumar said.
Expecting foul play in the Chandigarh mayoral elections, AAP councillor Kuldeep Kumar challenged the decision in the Punjab and Haryana High Cour but Justices Sudhir Singh and Harsh Bunger refused to grant any immediate relief and listed the next hearing for January 23.
Chandigarh Congress President H S Lucky, was further quoted as saying, “The ‘Operation Lotus’ has failed in Chandigarh. BJP is sensing their defeat. They lost morally when they did not even turn up to cast vote. This shows that the BJP cannot accept their defeat,” he said.
AAP MP Raghav Chadha said that in case the presiding officer is taken ill, another officer can replace him. “He is actually not sick. These are BJP’s tactics and it shows that BJP can stoop to any level to end democracy and free and fair elections,” he said.
Background
The AAP and Congress have come together to contest the Chandigarh mayoral elections to oust the BJP from the mayor chair which it has occupied for the last eight years.
Under the Congress-AAP alliance, the latter will fight for the mayor’s seat while the Congress will contest the posts of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor.
In the 35-member Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, the BJP has 14 councillors. It also has an ex-officio member MP (Kirron Kher) who has voting rights. The AAP has 13 councillor seats and the Congress has seven.