India News | Mayoral Polls: Cong-AAP, BJP Workers Scuffle over Nomination Withdrawal

Chandigarh, Jan 16 (PTI) A scuffle broke out between the BJP and Congress-AAP workers at the municipal corporation office here on Tuesday ahead of the Chandigarh mayoral polls.

The incident took place when Congress municipal councillor Jasbir Singh Bunty came to withdraw his nomination papers from the post of mayor.

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Bunty's father, who also reached the MC office, asked the Congress leaders to send his son with him, alleging that he had been kidnapped.

A scuffle took place between the workers of the Congress-AAP and those of the BJP.

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The Congress accused Bunty's father of levelling allegations under the influence of the BJP.

Later, the Chandigarh police took Bunty to his residence.

Bunty was initially the Congress candidate for the post of mayor.

But after the Congress and the AAP sealed an alliance for the mayoral posts, a decision was taken that the AAP will fight for the post of mayor and the Congress nominees will fight for the posts of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor.

Later, Bunty, in a video message, said he was with the Congress and will remain with it.

Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Pawan Kumar Bansal accused the BJP of misusing the local administration to poach leaders of the opposition parties.

The AAP and the Congress forged an alliance on Monday for the upcoming Chandigarh mayoral polls.

Under the arrangement, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will fight for the mayor's seat while the Congress will contest the posts of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor.

In the 35-member Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, the BJP has 14 councillors. It also has an ex-officio member MP who has voting rights.

The AAP has 13 councillors and the Congress seven. The Shiromani Akali Dal has one councillor in the House.

The polls for the posts of mayor, senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor will be held on Thursday.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)