Chandigarh Congress advocates anti-defection law in municipal polls

Chandigarh Congress is urging the implementation of the anti-defection law for municipal bodies, citing concerns over BJP’s alleged inducement of political defections in the city.

Chandigarh Congress is demanding the extension of the Anti-defection law to include Municipal and Panchayat bodies. Rajiv Sharma, spokesperson for the city Congress, criticized BJP for inducing political defections in the city, accusing them of hijacking democracy and tarnishing the reputation of the “City Beautiful” and its enlightened citizens. The Congress spokesperson responded to reports of an Aam Aadmi Party member, allegedly involved in demanding cash bribes from the public, joining BJP just before the Mayoral elections. The delay in the election process is attributed to BJP’s alleged intent to engineer defections for a majority in the Municipal house.

Congress is urging the city’s residents to boycott councillors lured by BJP before the Mayoral elections, deeming such defections an insult to the educated citizens. They emphasized that in the 2021 Municipal Corporation elections, BJP secured only 12 out of 35 Councilor seats, lacking the mandate for a Mayor. Despite this, Congress alleges that BJP resorted to unethical defections to influence the Mayoral elections in the last two terms. The Congress spokesperson pointed out the irony of BJP welcoming Aam Aadmi Party Councillor Lakhbir Singh Billu, whom they had accused of corruption until recently, for narrow political gains.

Congress warned BJP to respect democratic traditions and avoid corrupt practices like defections for their selfish interests.