Congress will contest all 35 wards in the municipal corporation elections slated for December, said AICC general secretary Rajni Patil on Sunday. She said, "We will field our candidates on all 35 seats." The party also plans to make the 2024 mayoral poll controversy a major issue for voters.
The Congress will contest all 35 wards in the municipal corporation (MC) elections slated for December, All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary and the party's city unit in-charge Rajni Patil said on Sunday.
Rubbishing claims of groupism in the local unit, and painting a united front, she said, "I know about your questions. We are here and would oversee the election process. We will field our candidates on all 35 seats."
In 2021, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had won 14 seats, Bharatiya Janata Party 12 seats, Congress eight and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) one. Since then, AAP's strength has dwindled to seven, Congress has now 10 councillors and BJP 18. The Congress is struggling to bring sitting MP, Manish Tewari and former union minister Pawan Bansal to work together. Bansal, though not very active, enjoys a considerable influence in some areas. Though some local leaders favour an alliance with AAP to defeat the BJP, there appears to be a strong opposition from AAP leadership in view of the Punjab slated for February, where they are pitted against each other. Patil also avoided a direct answer on alliance with AAP, saying both parties are contesting against the BJP.
Anil Masih controversy to be a poll plank: Congress
The party also said that the controversy surrounding Anil Masih, who was found manipulating votes in mayoral polls in 2024 mayoral polls would be a poll issue not only in Chandigarh but also in other places.
Patil launched a sharp attack on the BJP and the Election Commission of India over alleged irregularities in electoral rolls, calling the alleged manipulation of votes a threat to democracy.
Patil said Rahul Gandhi had been raising concerns about alleged vote manipulation for over a year. The Congress would take the issue to every state, constituency, ward and household and would not allow questions over electoral integrity to be buried, she said.
During the conference, local unit chief HS Lucky said that in Chandigarh, voters have declined by 2 lakh between June 1 2024 and the publication of the final electoral roll in September 2026, approximately 30% of the 2024 voters. The party workers would organise community meetings, reach out to residents whose names have been "deleted" and help eligible voters file objections and seek corrections to electoral rolls, he added.