Chandigarh, Jan. 30 -- The AAP-Congress pact, which was formed in sync with the now collapsed INDI Alliance in 2024, was an uncomfortable alliance from the first day as both sides lacked unity, struggling to put together a joint face, political experts said after the Thursday's mayoral poll that resulted in the victory of BJP's Saurabh Joshi. The impending assembly elections in Punjab early next year and civic body polls in the city slated for December appear to have given the final blow to the alliance with both opting for fighting the mayoral polls separately on Thursday. The AAP had 11 seats and the Congress seven, but both sides failed to put aside their differences, resulting in a cakewalk for the BJP. The AAP won 14 seats in the 35-member House in 2021 MC polls, eating into the Congress vote, and the BJP had won 12 seats only while the Congress had eight and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) secured one seat. However, AAP started losing its councillors to BJP and now its number has come down to 11. It was an uncomfortable alliance from the very beginning as local AAP leaders were not in favour of former Union minister Pawan Bansal leading as candidate in 2024 Lok Sabha polls. However, opposition voices within AAP against the alliance got silenced as Manish Tewari was fielded as candidate for 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Also, there had been internal rifts over candidate selection for the mayoral polls in Chandigarh. Political experts say the split is a strategy to prepare the ground for the 2027 assembly elections in Punjab where the Congress and the AAP are fighting tooth and nail. Though the INDI alliance broke off at the national level, both parties stayed together in Chandigarh, dogged by a constant war of words. Meanwhile, former BJP president Sanjay Tandon said the Congress-AAP alliance was one of convenience. "Both Congress and AAP were only fooling the public in the name of alliance. They came together for their own vested interests. Both stand exposed now," he said. To its credit, the alliance jointly contested and won the mayor's post in 2024 after a controversial counting process. The alliance had also helped Congress leader Manish Tewari secure a win in Lok Sabha elections in 2024. After BJP's victory in the mayoral poll, both parties were quick to level allegations at each other for the debacle. Jarnail Singh, AAP's Chandigarh in-charge accused the Congress of betrayal, terming it as the BJP's "B-team". "Whenever BJP needs support, Congress openly comes forward to help," he claimed. On the other hand, Congress' Chandigarh in-charge HS Lucky said the party was aware that it did not have the required numbers, but chose to fight a symbolic and "principled" battle against the BJP. Lucky said that the Congress always helped the AAP in Chandigarh and made them secure mayor's post in 2024. "Had you not tweeted on January 6 that Congress and BJP are together, and spoiled the entire environment ahead of polls, the outcome today would have been different," Lucky said in a video message, lambasting Jarnail Singh....