Newly elected councillors of the Aam Aadmi Party left for New Delhi and those of the Congress for Jaipur, amid suggestions that they might switch over to the BJP ahead of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation mayoral polls.
An AAP leader, however, claimed that their Delhi visit was pre-fixed.Congress leaders could not be reached for comments.
AAP had won 14 of 35 seats in the civic body polls held recently. The BJP had won 12 and the Congress 8 in the elections, which threw a hung verdict.The polls to elect the city mayor, senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor will be held on January 8.A party needs 19 votes to get its councillor elected as the mayor.
When contacted, senior AAP leader Pradeep Chabbra said, “Our councillors had a pre-scheduled meeting with Delhi minister and senior leader Gopal Rai. During their visit, they will be shown the Delhi MCD, mohalla clinics and schools.” He denied that they feared poaching.”We believe in our councillors. Their meeting was pre-fixed. They were go to Delhi a few days ago but Arvind Kejriwalji, meanwhile, visited Chandigarh and he took out a roadshow to thank people of the city for their overwhelming support in the Municipal Corporation elections.”As a result, their visit was slightly delayed,” he said.
Chandigarh Congress president Subhash Chawla could not be contacted over phone for comments.Earlier on Sunday, newly elected councillor of the Congress, Harpreet Kaur Babla, had joined the BJP.Harpreet, the councillor from Ward No. 10, switched over to the BJP along with her husband and senior Congress leader Devinder Babla.
