Chandigarh: BJP's Anup Gupta has been elected as the Mayor of Chandigarh Municipal Corporation by one vote in the results declared on Tuesday, officials said. Gupta defeated AAP's Jasbir Singh Ladi by one vote. While Gupta secured 15 votes, AAP's Ladi got 14. Elections for the posts of Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor for the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation will be held later in the day.
Congress and Akali Dal had decided not to participate in the elections, officials said. In the last Municipal Corporation, the Aam Aadmi Party had 14 seats. BJP, which had won 12 seats got added two more seats to its tally after two Congress councillors had joined the saffron party. Besides the Mayor post, a direct competition can be seen between Kanvarjit Rana from BJP and Taruna Mehta from AAP for the post of Senior Deputy Mayor.
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For the post of Deputy Mayor, BJP has nominated Harjeet Singh and AAP has nominated Suman Singh. While Congress may not be in a position to claim any post, the party could well be a game changer for the posts of Senior Deputy and Deputy Mayor. In the election for the post of Mayor, there was a direct contest between AAP and BJP.
Given the tough contest between the two parties, the administration has tightened the security arrangements and enforced Section 144 of CrPC in Nagar Nigam Bhavan, Sector-17, Chandigarh and within 50 metres of it. Meanwhile, the Chandigarh unit of the BJP congratulated Gupta for the win. “Heartiest congratulations to BJP candidate Anup Gupta on winning the Chandigarh Mayor election. He defeated the AAP candidate by one vote."
