‘Show of hands’ to pick Chandigarh mayor in 2026

The Chandigarh mayoral elections in 2026 will be conducted through a show of hands instead of secret ballots—a significant change prompted by the vote-rigging scandal from 2024 polls, and persistent demands from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress for a greater transparency in the electoral process.

In February, UT administrator Gulab Chand Kataria had directed the Deputy Commissioner’s office to draft an amendment in applicable law to allow voting by a show of hands instead of the previous system of secret ballots.

Deputy commissioner Nishant Yadav said the proposal for amendment in Punjab Municipal Act was ready and will be sent to the UT administrator for final approval.

“The amendment is aimed at preventing recurring issues of cross-voting and vote tampering. In the mayoral elections scheduled for January 2026, councillors will vote by raising their hands instead of using secret ballots,” he added.

The administration aims to complete the process by June, after which a public notice will be issued to invite suggestions and objections from city residents. Based on the feedback, a final notification will be issued.

Since the establishment of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation in 1996, mayoral elections have been conducted through secret ballots.

In the 2024 mayoral elections, then presiding officer Anil Masih, a nominated municipal councillor, was caught on camera invalidating eight votes cast in favour of AAP-Congress alliance candidate Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor, in an apparent attempt to secure victory for BJP’s Manoj Sonkar.

The brazen vote-rigging earned Masih the wrath of the Supreme Court, which termed it a “murder of democracy”.

Overturning the results, the top court declared Dhalor the winner, giving Chandigarh its first non-BJP, non-Congress mayor. The incident sparked nationwide outrage and damaged the BJP’s credibility, as reflected in the subsequent Lok Sabha election results.

During its meeting in October 2024, led by then mayor Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor, the MC House passed a resolution proposing that future elections be conducted through a show of hands instead of secret ballots.

Before the 2025 polls, in January, Dhalor filed a petition before the Supreme Court to replace the secret ballot system with open voting to ensure fairness. However, the Supreme Court refused to intervene and left the decision to the administration. The shift to an open voting system will benefit the party with the highest number of councillors, as any councillor wishing to vote for an opposition candidate will have to do so publicly. This will enable political parties to take disciplinary action against councillors who defy party lines.

In the 2025 elections, the BJP secured the mayoral position through cross-voting, gaining three opposition votes from AAP and Congress councillors.

However, with the new system, such manipulations will become difficult, as councillors will be required to publicly raise their hands to cast votes—similar to how resolutions on development projects and other issues are passed in the House.

The mayoral elections are conducted by the Deputy Commissioner’s office.

Notably, Chandigarh currently lacks an anti-defection law, which allows councillors to switch parties before elections.

As a result, party-switching among councillors has been a recurring issue before every election.