COURTESY HT DEC 29

Mayoral polls: All’s not well within city BJP again
Munieshwer A Sagar

munieshwer.sagar@htlive.com

Chandigarh : History repeats itself. Chandigarh mayoral elections are due on January 8, and strife within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the nomination, as witnessed in the last four years, seems to be playing out yet again.

This time around, the matter has been further complicated with BJP state president Arun Sood also said to be one of the contenders for the post.

Some party members and councillors are learnt to be unhappy with the prospect of one person holding two posts.

“The party follows one-man-one-post principle. If the state president is chosen as the mayor, then we would demand that he relinquishes his other post,” said a senior BJP leader, requesting anonymity.

With a clear majority in the House, the party’s nominee is destined to become the mayor. However, in the last four mayoral elections, there has been marked infighting with even rebel candidates standing up against the party nominee.

In 2018, Asha Jaswal, backed by Arun Sood and other councillors, filed separate nomination in protest against the candidature of Davesh Moudgil. She later withdrew it after the intervention of the high command. In 2019, Rajesh Kalia was the chosen nominee, but Satish Kainth filed nomination in protest.

Crucial polls as MC elections to take place at the end of 2021

This time around the mayoral elections become even more crucial as fresh MC elections are slated for the end of the year.

“In an election year, the party organisation needs to be strengthened. At the same time, pending works have to be completed by July-August so that the party can face the electorate. Combining the two posts in one man will weaken the party position in the election,” said a councillor, who didn’t want to be named.

Meanwhile, supporters of Sood’s candidature are contending that his record as the mayor in 2016 shows that he can deliver results in the election year.

“Sood was able to get the work done through the city’s bureaucracy. This year, that’s what the party needs. After his performance, the party had a thumping victory in MC elections,” said another councillor.

Downplaying the tussle going on within the party, Dinesh Kumar, organisation secretary, said, “The party follows the one-man-one-post principle, but there are exceptions to it too.”

The state party in-charge Dushyant Gautam, who is slated to arrive on December 30, said, “Nothing is decided yet. From December 30, we will start interacting with councillors and party leaders on