The much-awaited Chandigarh Mayoral Election will take place on January 18, 2024, with the AAP-Congress alliance taking on the BJP for the first time months before Lok Sabha Elections. The Chandigarh Mayoral Poll is turning out to be of great significance as it is the first time the INDIA block alliance will lock horns with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). On Monday, Congress and AAP reached a consensus to jointly contest the mayoral elections after a meeting took place between Raghav Chadha, Arvind Kejriwal, Rahul Gandhi, and Mallikarjun Kharge. Congress leader Pawan Bansal confirmed that the grand old party will contest for the Senior Deputy and Deputy Mayor posts, while it will support AAP for the Mayor post. Despite multiple differences between AAP and Congress in the region, both the parties reaching to consensus is a big achievement. And, the leader behind this achievement is none other than AAP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha.
Raghav Chadha turning into 'Chanakya' for INDIA block
AAP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha is turning out to the Chanakya of Punjab and surrounding states' politics. It is said that Raghav Chadha is the man behind the alliance of Congress and AAP that will jointly contest Chandigarh Mayoral Polls. On Thursday morning, Chadha also met Congress leader Pawan Bansal and strategized for the entire day as the polls will undergo on the same day. Not only this, it was Raghav Chadha who was taking care of councilors staying in a resort in Ropar so that no horse trading took place. In fact, the entire proceedings of the AAP-Congress alliance is taking place under Raghav Chadha's monitoring. Therefore, if the INDIA Block emerges victorious in Chandigarh Mayor Polls, then Raghav Chadha will be among the top names who will be responsible for winning the first election for the INDIA block.
It is pertinent to mention here that it is due to Raghav Chadha's masterstroke, the AAP-Congress combine will have 20 votes in the municipal corporation house against BJP's 15, which includes 1 ex-officio member in the form of city MP. Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher, as an ex-officio member, has a vote too in the elections. Chadha had also played a key role in bringing AAP into power in Punjab.
Reacting to Chandigarh Mayor Polls, Raghav Chadha was quoted saying, "The Chandigarh municipal polls will be the first big face-off between the BJP and the INDIA bloc. It will set the tone for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. INDIA Alliance will fight the Chandigarh mayor elections with all its strength and register a historic and decisive victory. Don't consider this an ordinary election. This will be an election where for the first time it will be INDIA vs BJP...After this election, the scorecard will be INDIA 1, BJP 0. We think that the clean sweep on 18th January will be the beginning for the Lok Sabha election 2024."
Chandigarh Mayor Poll: AAP MP who turned 'Chanakya' of INDIA block to defeat BJP in UT