As the January 2025 Chandigarh Mayoral Elections approach, all the political parties including Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are gearing up to retain the key municipal positions, banking on their numerical advantage in the 35-member Chandigarh municipal corporation (MC) House. The new mayor will be a woman, as per the city’s five-year mayoral rotation system.

Currently, the INDIA bloc (AAP and Congress) commands 21 votes in the MC House — 13 from AAP, seven from Congress and one ex-officio vote of MP Manish Tewari. In contrast, the BJP has only 15 votes and is relying on cross-voting or defection of INDIA bloc councillors to tip the balance in its favour

Meanwhile, BJP in-charge and Ghaziabad MP Atul Garg on Monday presided over a meeting with party councillors and office bearers and discussed with them issues related to the mayor election in detail. Strategies regarding the same were also decided in the meeting. Chandigarh BJP President Jatinder Pal Malhotra and Himachal Pradesh BJP co-incharge Sanjay Tandon were also present. On the occasion, Tandon called upon the councillors to maintain the unity of the party and work with discipline and dedication during the election.

Talking to reporters, BJP in-charge and Ghaziabad MP Atul Garg said that all the 15 elected BJP councillors are united for the Municipal Corporation Mayoral elections to be held in January. Garg expressed confidence that party councillors will strongly carry forward the party's policy and principles by demonstrating unity in the House. The BJP councillors are committed to the policy of development and transparency in Chandigarh and this election is an opportunity to further strengthen the public's trust, he added.

Chandigarh BJP President Malhotra said, “Our objective is to give a new direction to the development of Chandigarh and to live up to the expectations of the public.”  He further said that during the meeting, the councillors talked about making collective efforts to realize the party's vision. All the councillors promised to live up to the party's policies and the expectations of the public. Councillors assured that they will work with full honesty and hard work to solve the problems of their area and give priority to public welfare works, he added.

Sources said that leaders of AAP and Congress are making strategies regarding the upcoming mayor election at their party level. INDIA bloc alliance partners -AAP and Congress are likely to stick to their winning formula from last year — AAP bagging the mayor’s post, and the Congress taking the senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor roles — that had helped them unseat the BJP from the mayor’s post after eight years of control.  Names of probable candidates for mayor post and senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor are being discussed by the senior AAP and Congress leaders. Senior leaders of INDIA Bloc alliance are likely to hold a joint meeting regarding the same soon, sources added.

Talking to reporters, Chandigarh Congress president HS Lucky said, “Our alliance is intact and together we will fight against the BJP. Both the parties have yet to sit together for discussion on candidates for each post.”

When contacted, AAP’s co-in-charge SS Ahluwalia said that the mayoral candidate had not been finalised yet. “In the previous mayoral polls, the mayoral seat was allocated to AAP in exchange for MP seat for the Congress. We wholeheartedly supported Congress in the Lok Sabha polls, and as per our agreement, we are confident of securing the mayoral post this time,” he added.

It should be mentioned here that in Chandigarh, the elections for the three municipal posts are held annually in December end or first week of January. According to the rotation system, the first term is reserved for a woman candidate from general category, the second is for any candidate from general category, third for a candidate from Scheduled Caste category, fourth for a woman candidate from general category and fifth for general category. Seats for the senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor are not reserved.