Chandigarh, Jan. 4 -- A day after deputy commissioner (DC) Nishant Kumar Yadav announced January 29 as the date for electing the next mayor, senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor of the Chandigarh municipal corporation (MC), he said that candidates can file their nominations till January 22. In a notification issued by the DC's office on Saturday, it was stated that the signatures of the candidate, along with one proposer and one supporter, will be mandatory on the nomination form. The nominations can be submitted between 11 am and 5 pm. DC Yadav also informed that voting will begin at 11 am on January 29 in the MC's assembly hall. The DC has been appointed the "prescribed authority" to oversee the election proceedings under Section 60 of the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act, 1976. This time, the elections will be conducted by a show-of-hands, eliminating the possibility of cross-voting. The biggest challenge for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress now lies in preventing their councillors from defecting to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The AAP, which emerged as the largest party in the 2021 civic body polls by winning 14 seats, has been able to elect a mayor only once - Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor was appointed to the top post after the Supreme Court's intervention following the vote-rigging fiasco of 2024. Of the four mayors elected so far, the BJP has won three times. In light of the current situation, the party's Chandigarh in-charge SS Ahluwalia held a meeting with national in-charge Jarnail Singh. During the meeting, concerns were raised regarding the current status of councillors and the number of leaders who have left the party and joined the BJP in the last four years. Jarnail Singh expressed displeasure over the recent defection of two councillors to the BJP and stressed the need to keep the remaining councillors united. This time, both the Congress-AAP alliance as well as the BJP have 18 votes each. Congress with its six councillors' votes, one ex officio vote of MP, and AAP with 11 votes, have votes equal to the BJP's tally of 18. A camp needs 19 votes in the House to secure the top three posts. The current MC's term ends in 2026....