Chandigarh MC poll throws up hung house, AAP wins most seats

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) made a stellar debut in Chandigarh Monday, winning the most number of seats in the city municipal elections and pushing the BJP to second place. Arvind Kejriwal said the Chandigarh result signals change in Punjab, which votes early next year for a new government. The threw up a hung verdict even as the new entrant AAP made a major impact in the Chandigarh politics. The AAP, which contested the MC poll for the first time, bagged 14 seats while the ruling BJP could manage 12 and the Congress remained third winning only eight seats. SAD won a single seat. The majority mark is 18 seats.

Among the prominent losers were sitting mayor Ravi Kant Sharma, and former mayors Davesh Moudgil and Rajesh Kalia. All three BJP candidates were mayors in the current term of the party. Former Congress mayor Kamlesh also tasted defeat. Chandigarh Congress president Subhash Chawla's son Sumit Chawla also lost. BJP president Arun Sood's seat from where party's Vijay Rana contested was also lost. AAP's election campaign committee chairman Chandermukhi Sharma lost his seat. Anti-incumbency seems to have gone in favour of the AAP instead of the Congress. Other than the BJP it is also a big blow to the opposition Congress which was eying a comeback in the MC.