Chandigarh, Jan 27 (PTI) In a setback to the Congress ahead of the Chandigarh mayoral polls, its municipal councillor Gurbax Rawat on Monday joined the BJP here.

Rawat, a member of the All India Congress Committee, is a councillor from ward number 27 in Chandigarh.

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She was welcomed into the BJP in the presence of party's Chandigarh unit president Jitendra Pal Malhotra, other senior party leaders and councillors.

Rawat said she joined the BJP after being impressed by the policies of the BJP-led government at the Centre.

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She alleged that last year under the tenure of mayor of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), an ally of Congress in Chandigarh, the development of the city came to a halt.

Apart from "false" promises, nothing has been delivered, she claimed.

The residents of the city are "suffering due to their wrong policies and empty promises", she further said.

"Given these circumstances, it has become clear that the city's development is only possible under the BJP," said Rawat.

On this occasion, Malhotra said that the BJP functions like a family where every worker is given due respect and recognition, and Rawat will also receive the same.

The polls to the posts of mayor, senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor are scheduled to be held on January 30.

With the Congress councillor switching sides, the BJP's strength in the 35-member Chandigarh Municipal Corporation will increase to 16.

The Congress will be left with six councillors while its ally Aam Aadmi Party has a strength of 13 councillors. Besides, the Chandigarh MP also has voting rights as an ex-officio member of municipal corporation. The sitting MP is Manish Tewari of the Congress.

The AAP and Congress are contesting the mayoral polls in alliance. AAP's Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor is incumbent mayor of Chandigarh.

(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)