BJP's Manoj Sonkar triumphs over INDIA Alliance candidate in Chandigarh Mayoral Elections

In a major setback for the INDIA alliance, Manoj Sonkar of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday emerged victorious in the Chandigarh mayoral elections, securing a win over Kuldeep Kumar of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

The Chandigarh municipal corporation elections marked the first face-off between INDIA and the NDA, following Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s switch to the National Democratic Alliance. BJP secured victory in 16 out of the 35 seats, AAP and Congress secured 12, with eight votes being deemed invalid.

The AAP-Congress alliance strategically put forward candidates, Kuldeep Kumar, from the AAP, ran for the mayoral position, while the Congress nominated candidates for the roles of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor. In the battle for the senior deputy mayor position, Kuljeet Sandhu of the BJP was pitted against Congress's Gurpreet Singh Gabi, and the deputy mayor position saw a contest between BJP's Rajinder Sharma and Congress's Nirmala Devi.

The Chandigarh Mayoral polls were originally slated to take place on January 18; however, they were postponed just moments before the councilors were set to cast their votes owing to the ill health of presiding officer Anil Masih. This sudden change of events led to significant protests by opposition members, who alleged that the BJP had delayed the elections.​