BJP councillor joins AAP ahead of Chandigarh mayoral polls

Chandigarh, Jan 13 (PTI) BJP municipal councillor Gurcharanjit Singh Kala on Saturday joined the Aam Aadmi Party here ahead of the Chandigarh mayoral polls.

Kala, who is the councillor from Hallomajra (ward number 20), joined the party in the presence of Mohali MLA Kulwant Singh, AAP Chandigarh co-in-charge Sunny Ahluwalia, Rajbir Singh, an officer on special duty to the Punjab chief minister, and others.

The development came four days after AAP municipal councillor Lakhbir Singh Billu joined the BJP.

With the joining of Kala, the Aam Aadmi Party's tally in the 35-member Chandigarh Municipal Corporation House reached 13.

The BJP is now left with 14 councillors. The party also has an ex-officio member MP, who has a voting right.

The Congress has seven councillors while the Shiromani Akali Dal has one.

Polls to the posts of mayor, senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor will be held on January 18.

In a statement here, Kala said he left the BJP on his own to join AAP and that there was no pressure of any kind on him.

He also accused the BJP of spreading rumours of his kidnapping and misleading his family.

Earlier, Kala's son filed a police complaint against AAP's mayoral candidate Kuldeep Kumar Tita and others for allegedly kidnapping his father.

AAP's Neha Musawat and Poonam filed their nominations for the post of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor posts respectively. PTI CHS VSD IJT IJT