Chandigarh, Jan 1 (IANS) The ruling Congress Saturday won the mayor’s post in Chandigarh by one vote, completing a sweep in the elections held to the three top posts of the city municipal corporation.
Besides the mayor’s post, the party also won the elections of the senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor.
Congress candidates Kuldeep Singh Kajheri (20 votes) and Sheila Phul Singh (17 votes) won the posts of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor respectively.
Congress candidate Ravinder Pal Singh became the new mayor, defeating rebel Congress candidate Jagjit Singh Kang by one vote.
Out of the 33 votes counted, Ravinder Pal Singh got 17 while Kang got 16.
Kang, a Congress councillor, quit the party Tuesday after he was denied nomination. He contested as an Independent and received support from the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Akali Dal and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
Of the 36 municipal councillors, 35 councillors and cast their votes Saturday along with union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, who represents Chandigarh in parliament. Two votes were declared invalid.
There was confusion initially after the votes were counted as the returning officer, Kuldip Singh Chandpuri, first declared Kang the winner. However, he corrected himself within minutes and announced Ravinder Pal Singh as elected.
Reacting to the confusion, Bansal said: ‘It was a human error. Chandpuri first declared Kang as the winner but immediately rectified his mistake.’
‘Mayor elections were held in the most fair manner. There is no chance of any discrepancy,’ he added.
The newly-elected mayor, Ravinder Pal Singh said: ‘I am not the right person to comment anything about the conduct of mayor’s elections. I am very happy with this win and will try to take all councillors along with me.’
The result showed that the Congress, which had 16 votes in the corporation, failed to get much support from the nine nominated councillors.
The BJP has eight votes while Akali Dal and the BSP have a vote each in the house. There are nine nominated members.
One councillor did not vote as she was out of the country.
BJP leaders said they reject the mayoral elections and would move the court against the result. They also raised anti-Congress slogans outside the Corporation House.
‘We reject the results of mayor elections. The returning officer was working hand in gloves with the Congress. This has happened on the behest of Pawan Kumar Bansal and we would soon challenge the result in court,’ said BJP leader Atul Sood.
