1st defeat for INDIA bloc, BJP wins Chandigarh Mayoral elections by 16-12 votes

New Delhi: In a major blow to INDIA bloc, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday registered victory in the Chandigarh Mayor elections by decisively defeating the Congress-Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) alliance.

Manoj Sonkar, BJP’s candidate for Chandigarh mayoral elections, registered victory over INDIA’s nominee Kuldeep Singh by 16-12 votes. The saffron party bagged 16 votes, Opposition clocked 12 votes while 8 votes were declared invalid for ‘glaring lapses’ in their candidature.

#WATCH | BJP wins Chandigarh mayoral elections with 16 votes to its mayor candidate Manoj Sonkar. The Congress & AAP mayor candidate Kuldeep Singh got 12 votes. 8 votes were declared invalid. pic.twitter.com/vjQYcObylT

— ANI (@ANI) January 30, 2024

The shocking poll debacle comes as a major setback for the INDIA bloc as the latter was hopeful and upbeat about AAP-Cong seat-sharing, first such deal in the alliance and even proclaimed to take away BJP’s thunder in the Mayoral polls.

This was also an acid test for the recently formed INDIA alliance, already riddled with infighting and strife among factions over seat-sharing. AAP and Congress have been reluctant to cede space & seat to each other in their bastions but for Chandigarh Mayor polls, they did reach a common point and ganged up to take on the BJP. The Opposition camp has begun protests over Mayor polls defeat while ccusing the BJP of ‘stage-managing’ the elections and ‘browbeating’ the poll officials.

On the other hand, the saffron camp has erupted in joy & jubilation over snatching victory from INDIA bloc despite the latter looking ominous in wake of its numbers.

BJP Prez congratulates party unit

JP Nadda, BJP’s national President congratulated party unit of the Union Territory (UT) and called it a victory for development works under PM Modi’s leadership.

Taking a sharp dig at INDIA bloc, he said that they fought their first battle together but again lost to BJP.

“This shows neither their arithmetic nor their chemistry is working,” Nadda wrote on X.

Congratulations to @BJP4Chandigarh Unit for winning the Mayor election. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi Ji, UTs have witnessed record development. That the INDI Alliance fought their first electoral battle and still lost to BJP shows that neither their…

— Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) January 30, 2024