Two Chandigarh councillors return to AAP within weeks of joining BJP

Chandigarh: Within weeks of switching to the BJP, two Chandigarh municipal councillors rejoined the Aam Aadmi Party on Saturday.

The development came days after the Congress-AAP alliance lost elections to the posts of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation.

Poonam Kumari and Neha Musabat returned to the AAP fold on Saturday, a party statement said.

Both leaders rejoined the AAP in the presence of AAP's co-incharge Sunny Ahluwalia on Saturday.

Kumari, Musabat and another councillor had joined the BJP on February 19, a day before the Supreme Court was scheduled to hear a plea alleging irregularities in the mayoral polls. The majority of the AAP-Congress alliance looked to be in trouble with their switch.

Now, that Kumari and Musabat have returned to the AAP, the party's strength in the 35-member house of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation reaches 12, while the BJP's tally is down to 15. The Congress has seven councillors while the Akali Dal has one.

Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher, who is a BJP member, also has voting rights as an ex-officio member of the corporation.

On March 4, the BJP won the reelection for the posts of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, defeating the Congress candidates who were backed by the AAP as part of the opposition's INDIA bloc.

On February 20, the Supreme Court had declared Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Kuldeep Kumar as the new mayor of the corporation after it overturned the result of the January 30 mayoral poll in which BJP candidate Manoj Sonkar had emerged the winner.

The apex court judgment had come after allegations of tampering with ballots during the January mayoral polls.

As the mayor is the presiding officer for the elections to the posts of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor, the polls were held again on Monday after the change of mayor.