Chandigarh MC polls: As rebels group together, parties step-up efforts to placate them

With a grouping of rebel candidates cutting across party lines taking shape and strong prospects emerging of a photo finish in the three-cornered Chandigarh municipal corporation election results, parties are going into an overdrive to placate rebels.

Around 12 rebel candidates from Aam Aadmi Party, Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party have so far indicated to put up a joint front against the three parties. They are in talks to formulate a common manifesto in addition to supporting each other on the ground. The parties fear that even in their individual capacities, the rebel candidates can hurt the victory chances of their official candidates.

Only three days are left for withdrawal of names. The parties are offering higher level posts, better deals in future, and even getting Delhi-based senior leaders to call up rebels.

If the rebel candidates don’t budge, the parties won’t hesitate to raise objections with the state election commission (SEC) about their nominations.

On Monday, SEC scrutinised the nomination papers, and some rebel candidates had to run around to clear various objections raised by political parties to their nomination papers.

Prem Pal Chauhan, a former organisational secretary of the Congress, who is now contesting as an independent candidate from ward 15, said, “A senior Congress leader on Monday offered me the post of general secretary and also cited my long bond with party so that I withdraw my candidature.”

Stating that he wouldn’t budge under the party’s pressure, Harbans Singh Saini, who had been a Congress member since the ‘70s and also served as the vice-president of Chandigarh Indian Trade Union Congress (INTUC), said, “Party colleagues are being sent to convince me to withdraw, but the way the party is being run now is against its own principles.”

Congress is facing nearly 12 rebel candidates in different wards. Three of its functionaries even joined the AAP as its candidates after grand old party rejected their claims to party tickets.

BJP rebel candidates are also being pursued by the party to rethink their decision to contest against the party as independents. It is also facing challenge of around 10 rebel candidates.

Former member national executive committee, SC Morcha, BJP, Narendra Pal Chaudhary, who is a rebel candidate from ward 26, said, “Two senior BJP leaders (Delhi-based) called me up and asked me to meet them on the nomination issue.”

Chaudhary couldn’t meet them on Monday. “Later I got to know that one of the party’s candidates has raised objections on my nomination papers. All my day was spent on clearing those objections,” said Chaudhary.

Meanwhile, a senior AAP leader conceded that the party is also facing a major rebel candidate challenge. “We are in constant talks with them. In some wards, a difference of 100-200 votes will decide the winner. A rebel candidate will definitely hurt in such scenario.”

The pressure is starting to tell also on some candidates. After being denied the AAP ticket from Ward 4, an angry Sahil Chawar, AAP’s youth state general secretary, was gung-ho on working to defeat party’s official candidate.

But after getting several calls from the senior party leaders, he is now rethinking his decision. “Local party officials and a senior leader from Delhi called me and assured me of better prospects within the party. They also said there is no point in working against the party when I worked so hard for it all these years,” said Chawar.

Papers of 102 candidates rejected

Chandigarh: The nomination papers of 102 candidates were rejected on Monday after scrutiny of papers.

A total of 214 candidates are left in the fray. The final tally of candidates will be known after the last date of withdrawal of nominations, December 9.

A spokesperson for the state election commission said, “The nominations papers of covering candidates and independent candidates were rejected. In some cases where multiple nomination papers were filed by a candidates, one was accepted and rest rejected.”

Ward 19 and 21 had five rejections each, the maximum from any ward.

The voting will be held on December 24. Results will be declared on December 27.