Chandigarh: Kirron Kher has smiled often during her years in acting, but none of that could have matched the look on her face on Tuesday when the results of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation elections came in.
“I am so happy,” a beaming Kher told CNN-News18 after the BJP-SAD alliance bagged 21 out of 26 seats.
The win comes despite serious worries among party workers over the unpredictable fallout of demonetisation, giving a boost to the BJP just ahead of the Pujab Assembly elections. The Congress despite all the noises it made on demonetisation managed to bag only four seats.
Chandigarh Municipal Corporation has 36 members, out of which 26 are elected while nine are nominated councillors.
Kirron Kher who is the Member of Parliament from Chandigarh is an ex-officio member of the House.
“We thank the people of Chandigarh for the mandate. We implemented Modiji's schemes at ground level and the results show it,” said Kirron Kher.
Former Union Minister and MP from Chandigarh, Pawan Bansal, who closely monitored the Congress campaign in Chandigarh said they had not expected this result.
Chandigarh MC polls were keenly watched by all political parties who considered it a barometer of things to come in Punjab Assembly elections where the SAD-BJP will be battling strong anti incumbency after 10 years in power.
While the Congress had based its civic poll campaign on the negative effects of what they claimed was an “ill-conceived demonetisation policy”, the BJP had gone from door to door to emphasise the positive long term implication of the Modi government’s monetary policy moves. The Congress had said the poor have been punished while the rich have been benefited by the policy.
Chandigarh BJP President Sanjay Tandon speaking to CNN-News18 said he was thankful to the people of the city for having understood the positive intention behind demonetisation, instead of falling for the negative hype created by the Opposition.
Chandigarh is essentially a city of government officials, business professionals working at regional offices of firms, and a relatively lower proportion of traders as compared to other cities in Punjab. Chandigarh also has a substantial number of city dwellers who have businesses, agricultural land holdings and other interests elsewhere in Punjab, but prefer to live in the well planned cosmopolitan city.
While the demographics of Chandigarh are not the same as the rest of Punjab, the clear electoral victory of BJP has set the agenda for the Assembly polls.
For the BJP, the elections were crucial if not critical. BJP National President Amit Shah thanked the people of Chandigarh for supporting BJP and said, “Every election win after November 8 shows that they approve of the demonetisation decision.
Notably, alliance partner Shiromani Akali Dal has won just one seat and lost two to Congress. Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal had recently said that money supply woes caused by demonetisation could hurt the alliance ahead of polls unless the liquidity situation improved soon and drastically.
Polling for the 26 wards in the Union Territory was held on December 18 and 59.54 per cent voters had exercised their franchise. A total of 122 candidates, including 67 Independents, contested the civic polls. The total number of voters were 5,07,627, including 2,37,374 women voters.
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