Chandigarh, Jan. 31 -- In a politically charged contest on Thursday, simmering tensions within both the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Congress, coupled with the fractured unity of their alliance, allowed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to reclaim the Chandigarh mayoral seat that it had lost last year after eight straight years of control.

Harpreet Kaur Babla, 60, secured a narrow but decisive win over AAP-Congress candidate Prem Lata, 46, by a razor-thin margin of just two votes in the 35-member municipal corporation.

Despite a numerical advantage, the AAP-Congress alliance was plagued by differences and seething internal rifts within both parties, undermining their leaders' efforts and paving the way for the BJP to exploit the cracks with...