BJP's Sarabjit Kaur is new mayor of Chandigarh, AAP questions election process

Amid ruckus BJP municipal councillor Sarabjit Kaur Saturday became the new Chandigarh Municipal Corporation mayor, defeating Aam Aadmi Party’s Anju Katyal by just one vote in a direct contest. Out of the total 36 votes, 28 were polled while seven Congress councillors and the lone Shiromani Akali Dal councillor abstained from polling.

Chandigarh:Amid ruckus BJP municipal councillor Sarabjit Kaur on Saturday became the new Chandigarh Municipal Corporation mayor, defeating Aam Aadmi Party’s Anju Katyal by just one vote in a direct contest. Out of the total 36 votes, 28 were polled while seven Congress councillors and the lone Shiromani Akali Dal councillor abstained from polling.

Kaur bagged 14 votes while Katyal got 13, and one was declared invalid, officials said. After the result was declared, AAP councillors created a massive ruckus in the House and questioned the election process.

Later, AAP members forcefully set beside the chair of Mayor and Deputy Commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh after which police were called in to remove them.

The results of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation polls which were declared on December 27, threw up a hung House, with the AAP winning 14 of the 35 wards and the BJP 12. The Congress had bagged eight seats while the Shiromani Akali Dal got one.

The election process began at 11.10 am, while BJP councillor Mahesh Inder Singh Sidhu was the presiding officer, DC Vinay Pratap Singh chaired the election process.