BJP Hopes To Bounce Back After Twin Upsets By AAP-Congress Combine

The upcoming Chandigarh mayoral election, set for January 30, has turned into a fierce political contest as the BJP ramps up its efforts, hoping to reclaim the coveted mayoral seat.

- Hillary Victor

CHANDIGARH:

A win in this election would not only allow the BJP to exact sweet revenge for its twin losses in Chandigarh — first in last year's mayoral elections and again in the Lok Sabha elections — but also give the party's momentum a crucial boost ahead of the February 5 Delhi assembly elections.

Memories of its narrow defeat in the June 2024 Lok Sabha elections still fresh, the high-stakes mayoral elections have thus become a do-or-die battle for the BJP that will help it regain its lost political foothold in the city.

Sworn enemies in Delhi and Punjab, the AAP and the Congress had joined forces in Chandigarh as part of INDIA bloc ahead of the 2024 mayoral polls, going on to wrest the mayoral seat, which had been in BJP's control for eight straight years.