Chandigarh, Feb. 17 -- In a decisive step towards transparency, the UT administration has green-lit open voting in future mayoral elections, replacing the long-standing secret ballot system - a move spurred by the 2024 vote-rigging scandal and persistent demands from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for a fair and open electoral process.

UT administrator Gulab Chand Kataria has directed the Deputy Commissioner's office to draft an amendment to the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation (Procedure and Conduct of Business) Regulations, 1996, to allow voting by a show of hands instead of the previous system of secret ballots.

A senior UT administration official, privy to the development, stated, "To prevent issues of vote tampering, as seen in 2024, we...