CHANDIGARH MC ELECTIONS: Party leaders keep fingers crossed

Sandeep Rana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 26

Whether the ruling BJP will retain power in the Municipal Corporation House or the Opposition Congress will bounce back, or the new entrant AAP will make a mark in the UT. The answer will be known by Monday afternoon when the results of the civic body elections start coming in. A total of 203 candidates are in the fray.

A day before the counting, all three parties claimed they would get a majority. City BJP president Arun Sood, while talking to Chandigarh Tribune, said: “We are going to have a thumping majority in the MC House. The public is going to bless us based on our works done in the six-year term. This is our commitment to the people that we will take the city to number one and provide international basic amenities here in the next five years. AAP is a B-team of the Congress and the two kept seeing the shifting of leaders into each other’s fold ahead of the poll.”

Local Congress president Subhash Chawla also exuded confidence. “We are going to have our own Mayor in the MC. We will comfortably get a majority. Our feedback says so and our candidates are also 200 per cent sure. The BJP will not even reach the double digit figure. AAP wanted to help the BJP by cutting our votes, but the ‘aam aadmi’ did not connect to Kejriwal’s party.”

City AAP president Prem Garg claimed, “We will not get fewer than one lakh votes in total. We will have our own Mayor. There is a lot of undercurrent in our party’s favour. Lower and middle class ‘aadmi’ has voted for us. We have done very well in the colonies. People in the urban area also voted for us. There may be a miracle.” 

All set for counting: All arrangements have been made at the nine counting centres set up across the city. The trends will be updated every hour at the tents pitched outside the centres as well as on the Nigam Chunav App of the State Election Commission, UT.

Seats to watch for

Ward No. 25 (Sectors 37 and 38): It is BJP chief Arun Sood’s ward from where young party leader Vijay Rana is in the fray.

Ward No. 14 (Dhanas): Sumit Chawla, son of Congress chief Subhash Chawla, is contesting from here.

Ward No. 30 (Sector 41, Buterla, Badheri villages): Only SAD councillor and city party president Hardeep Singh is the candidate.

Ward No. 13 (Sectors 11, 12, 14): Chandermukhi Sharma, AAP’s election committee in-charge, is fighting on this seat.

Ward No. 17 (Sec 22, 23): Sitting Mayor Ravi Kant Sharma is in the fray from this ward.

19 seats needed for majority

There will be a total of 36 votes, 35 councillors and one ex-officio member, i.e. MP (Kirron Kher), in MC House. A party needs 19 seats to form a majority and get its councillor elected as Mayor.

Will have majority

We are going to have a thumping majority in MC House. The public is going to bless us based on our works done in the six-year term. Arun Sood, City BJP president

Feedback signals big win

We are going to have our own Mayor. We will comfortably get a majority. Our feedback says so and our candidates are also 200 per cent sure. Subhash Chawla, Cong president

Undercurrent in our favour

We will not get fewer than one lakh votes in total. We will have our own Mayor. There is a lot of undercurrent in our party’s favour. — Prem Garg, City AAP president