Chandigarh, March 23 -- With elections to the General House of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation due in December 2026, political equations in the city saw a significant shift on Sunday, with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) suffering yet another setback and the Congress gaining fresh ground. AAP councillor Damanpreet Singh (Ward 17 - Sectors 22 and 23) quit the party to join the Congress, in what is being seen as a blow to AAP's already shrinking base. The development comes barely a month after AAP councillor Prem Lata defected to the Congress on February 23, reflecting discontent within the party ranks. Describing his move as a "homecoming", Damanpreet, a loyalist of former Chandigarh Congress chief late Pardeep Chhabra, said the AAP had become "hollow and uninspiring" for workers keen on the city's development. Chhabra, who remained the Chandigarh Congress chief for seven years, had joined the AAP in 2021, with Damanpreet following him. But the recent return of Chhabra's wife, Ritu Chhabra, to the Congress appears to have triggered a reverse migration. "For four years I remained with the AAP but realised the party's interests are not aligned with Chandigarh. Its focus is on Punjab, where it is in power. They have no road map for Chandigarh and local leaders have no say," said Damanpreet, who has also served as the president of the Youth Congress in the past. He also claimed that AAP's refusal to ally with the Congress had indirectly helped the BJP retain power in the 2026 mayoral polls. Notably, the AAP and the Congress had joined forces in Chandigarh before the 2024 mayoral polls. The alliance went on to wrest both the mayoral and Lok Sabha seats in 2024, but lost to the BJP in the 2025 mayoral poll despite having a numerical edge on paper. The alliance fell apart ahead of the 2026 mayoral polls, paving the way for a comfortable BJP victory. Following the latest defection, the BJP continues to hold a clear edge in the 35-member House with 18 councillors. The Congress now has eight councillors, along with its ex-officio member, MP Manish Tewari, while AAP's strength has reduced to nine. Though the BJP currently enjoys a majority, the steady erosion of AAP's numbers and the Congress's gradual gains could reshape Opposition dynamics ahead of the nine-month-away MC polls, especially if a fresh alliance comes into play. The latest exit adds to AAP's steady decline in the city since its majority victory in the 2021 MC elections, when it won 14 seats in the 35-member House. The BJP had won 12 seats and the Congress eight. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) had secured one ward. Since then, desertions have steadily weakened the AAP. Its strength has now dropped to nine. In 2023, councillor Taruna Mehta joined the Congress, while in December 2025, two councillors - Poonam and Suman Sharma - switched to the BJP right before the mayoral polls, before Prem Lata's jump to the Congress in February 2026. Despite starting with a majority, AAP has struggled to convert numbers into mayoral power. The BJP, on the other hand, has managed to secure the mayor's post in 2022, 2023, 2025 and 2026. The only exception came in 2024, when the Supreme Court intervened to declare the AAP candidate as the rightful winner after a controversial mayoral election involving vote rigging. Meanwhile, apart from councillor Damanpreet, former AAP state general secretary Ujjwal Bhasin, advocate Vishal Sharma and Yuvraj Asht also joined the Congress. Welcoming them, Chandigarh Congress president HS Lucky said the inclusion of grassroots and influential leaders like Damanpreet and Ujjwal would strengthen the organisation by infusing new energy. He hinted at more leaders switching to the Congress in the run-up to the MC elections. Bhasin said his decision was influenced by the Congress's strong presence among the legal fraternity, where he had been active....