Kalia survives Kainth scare

Ramkrishan Upadhyay
Tribune News Service 
Chandigarh, January 18

BJP candidate Rajesh Kalia was elected the new Mayor of Chandigarh in elections held during a House meeting of the Municipal Corporation   here today. Kalia  defeated   party rebel Satish Kainth. Hardeep Singh  of the  Akali   Dal was elected the  Senior  Deputy Mayor, while Kanwarjeet Rana was elected the  Deputy Mayor.  

Of the 27 votes, Kalia polled 16, while Kainth got 11. Congress candidate Sheela Devi withdrew her name  just before the elections to pave the  way for the victory  of  Kainth, but  he  could  not  get the required 14 votes  to win the elections. Though Kainth lost the election, he managed to get five votes of BJP councillors.

City BJP president Sanjay  Tandon announced the expulsion  of Kainth from the membership  of the  party and also formed  a two-member committee to find out the party councillors  who voted  against  the  official  candidate. Congress candidate  Sheela Devi withdrew her name just before the elections. Soon after taking over the charge, Kalia  thanked party leaders and Babasaheb Ambedakar. He said a  campaign  to tarnish his image was carried  out in the recent past  and said he was never convicted by any court. He  said all cases against  him were filed with a political motive.

He said before  the  elections, he was portrayed  like a “terrorist” and nobody talked about the pain and  hardship he suffered due to the poor financial condition of his family. He said his father came to Chandigarh in 1972. His father  was so poor that he  had  to work as a ragpicker at a dumping  ground earlier. Educated up to Class XII, he was also active in the RSS and later served as the chairman of the Chandigarh SC Morcha.

Nominated councillor Ajay Dutta   conduced  the  elections. The Congress had fielded  Gurbax Rawat for the post of Senior Deputy Mayor and  Ravinder Kaur  for the  post  of Deputy Mayor.

Reacting to the result, city Congress president Pradeep Chhabra said  the cross-voting  in the BJP indicated that BJP councillors were also fed with their party. He said people   of the city would vote  for the Congress  in the next elections.

BJP expels Kainth, forms 2-member probe panel

City BJP president Sanjay Tandon announced the expulsion of Kainth from the membership of the party and also formed a two-member committee to find out the party councillors who voted against the official candidate.