Chandigarh: New entrant Aam Aadmi Party has emerged as the leading outfit in the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation polls, winning 14 of 35 wards in the final results declared on Monday.
The BJP, which enjoyed a majority in the previous MC House, came a close second registering win in 12 wards while the Congress bagged eight seats and the Shiromani Akali Dal one.
Current Chandigarh Mayor and BJP candidate Ravi Kant Sharma was defeated by AAP’s Damanpreet Singh, who won by a margin of 828 votes in Ward No.17.
AAP leader and Delhi MLA Raghav Chadha called his party’s performance a “trailer” before next year’s Punjab Assembly polls. Chandigarh is the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana.
This time, the number of wards in the city was increased from 26 to 35. In the last MC elections, the BJP had won 20 seats and its erstwhile ally SAD one. The Congress had managed to win only four seats.
Traditionally, the municipal elections, held every five years, see a locking of horns between the BJP and the Congress, but the AAP’s entry made the contest this time triangular.
In the results declared on Monday, AAP leader Chander Mukhi Sharma lost to Congress’ Sachin Galav by a margin of 285 votes from Ward Np. 13. Chander Mukhi had joined AAP after quitting the Congress last year.
Former mayor and BJP candidate Davesh Moudgil lost to AAP’s Jasbir by 939 votes from Ward No. 21. In Ward No. 25, BJP Yuva Morcha leader Vijay Kaushal Rana was defeated by Yogesh Dhingra of AAP by a margin of 315 votes.
The ward was earlier represented by Chandigarh BJP president Arun Sood.
From Ward No.2, Congress leader Harmohinder Singh Lucky lost by a narrow margin of 11 votes to BJP’s Maheshinder Singh Sidhu.
BJP’s senior leader Heera Negi lost from Ward No.22 to AAP’s Anju Katyal by a narrow margin of 76 votes.
Among the prominent winners, Harpreet Kaur Babla of the Congress, wife of party senior leader Devinder Singh Babla, won with a margin of 3,103 votes, defeating Rashi Bhasin of the BJP in Ward No.10.
BJP’s Saurabh Joshi won from Ward No. 12 with a handsome margin of 1,887 votes, defeating Deipa Asdhir Dubey of the Congress.
Congress leader Gurbax Rawat defeated BJP’s senior leader Ravinder Singh Rawat from Ward No.27 by a margin of 2,862 votes. Kuljeet Singh Sandhu of the BJP registered a win from Ward Number 14, defeating AAP’s Kuldeep Singh by a margin of 255 votes.
From this ward, Chandigarh Congress chief Subhash Chawla’s son Sumit Chawla had also entered the fray.
From Ward number 30, SAD’s Hardeep Singh defeated Congress’ Atinderjit Singh by 2,145 votes.
Reacting to his win against the sitting mayor, AAP’s Damanpreet Singh said he gives credit for this victory to city party leader Pradeep Chhabra, whom he called “his guru”, party national convener Arvind Kejriwal.
“Work is always appreciated and it has paid dividends today,” he said.
Hitting out at the BJP and the Congress, AAP leader Raghav Chadha said people were fed up with them as they failed to deliver despite being given chance repeatedly.
People were looking for an “honest, viable alternative”, he said.
“These two traditional parties failed to undertake development and bring about a change in the system, which people wanted. People saw how an ordinary councillor, who used to roam on bicycle and scooter, has big farmhouses and accumulated properties,” said Chadha.
Asked if the results will have any impact on the upcoming Punjab Assembly polls, Chadha quipped, “This is just a trailer.”
“The mood of people here will be seen in the Punjab polls too,” he said.
“People of Chandigarh have given a chance to Kejriwal, people of Punjab too will give us one chance,” he added.
