India, Sept. 23 -- Seven councillors who had contested the Municipal Corporation elections as Independents have formally rejoined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), bypassing the district leadership and joining in Chandigarh under the aegis of senior state leaders.

The returning councillors are Parminder Kataria and Pradeep Param from Ward 35, Mahavir Yadav, Dinesh Dahiya, and Avneesh Raghav from Ward 10, councillor representative Prashant Bhardwaj, and Gagandeep Kirod. Of these, Kataria, Yadav, Dahiya, Raghav, and Kirod had been expelled from the party for six years over anti-party activities. Their expulsion has now been revoked, officials confirmed. Sources said five of the councillors are aligned with Rao Inderjit's camp, with their r...