CHANDIGARH, May 3: — Future mayoral elections in the Municipal Corporation (MC) of Chandigarh are likely to be held by a show of hands, replacing the secret ballot method, officials said. The proposed change follows months of controversy over alleged vote tampering in the January 2024 polls.
A senior official from the Administration confirmed that the proposal to amend election procedures under the Punjab Municipal Act has been finalized and will soon be forwarded to the UT Administrator for approval.
“The move is aimed at enhancing transparency and curbing cross-voting as well as tampering during the mayoral poll,” the official said.
The decision follows a resolution passed by the MC House on October 30, 2024, recommending that future elections for the posts of mayor, senior deputy mayor, and deputy mayor be conducted through a show of hands.
“To facilitate a transparent and equitable election process for the coming years, it is proposed that the existing Regulations of 1996 be amended,” the agenda stated, referring to Regulation 6 of the Chandigarh MC (Procedure and Conduct of Business) Regulations, 1996.
The controversy surrounding the last mayoral election on January 30, 2024, has prompted the shift.
Presiding officer Anil Masih was caught on camera allegedly defacing ballot papers and invalidating eight votes cast for AAP-Congress alliance candidate Kuldeep Kumar. BJP candidate Manoj Sonkar was declared the winner.
Responding to a petition by an AAP councillor, the Supreme Court later ruled that the tampering was deliberate and reversed the result, declaring Kuldeep Kumar as the rightful winner.
“Prima facie, the returning officer was defacing the ballot papers,” the apex court noted after reviewing video footage of the incident.
The landmark verdict marked a political turning point, with Chandigarh electing its first non-BJP, non-Congress mayor.
In the aftermath, Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria instructed officials to initiate the amendment process in light of transparency concerns repeatedly raised by both AAP and Congress.
The proposed reform, if approved, could fundamentally reshape the conduct of municipal elections in the city.
