Chandigarh, Jan. 3 -- The last mayor of the current Chandigarh municipal corporation (MC) House will be appointed on January 29. Deputy commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav, who is the prescribed authority for the election, reviewed the arrangements on Friday. In Chandigarh, while the elected councillors enjoy a five-year term, the mayor, senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor are picked through indirect elections every year. This will be the first time in the city's history that elections for the three posts will take place through a "show-of-hands" by councillors, instead of the secret ballot system. The decision to do away with the secret ballot system was taken recently, in wake of the 2024 vote-rigging fiasco, where the then presiding officer Anil Masih, was caught on camera tampering with the ballots. This time too, it will be a direct clash between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-Congress alliance. With 35 councillors and one ex officio vote of the sitting Member of Parliament, a camp needs a simple majority of 19 votes to post its member to the top post. Two AAP councillors had recently defected to the BJP, taking the saffron party's strength in the House to 18. It needs one more vote to seal the deal. The rival camp too has 18 members - 11 councillors of the AAP, six of the Congress and one vote of the sitting MP Manish Tewari, setting the stage for a neck-and-neck battle. During the MC's five-year term, the office of the mayor is reserved for women in the first and fourth years. This time, the mayor will be picked from the general category. While the parties are yet to name their candidates, party insiders reveal that the BJP may go with Maheshinder Singh Sidhu, Saurabh Joshi, Kanwarjit Rana or Anoop Gupta as its candidates. From the AAP-Congress alliance, the names of Gurpreet Singh Gabi, Yogesh Dhingra and Damanpreet Singh are doing the rounds. As per the standard operating procedures (SOP), the councillors are required to raise their hands clearly when their choice is called. Votes shall be counted through visual verification, and verbal confirmation. Proper documentation including maintenance of a register of votes and recording of the minutes of the meeting will also be ensured to avoid any ambiguity or dispute. The video recording shall be preserved for a minimum of 90 days or as directed by the competent authority. Media coverage and live feed of the election process, as permissible, shall also be allowed in the interest of transparency. In accordance with Section 60(A) of the Punjab municipal corporation Act, 1976, Ramneek Singh Bedi, a councillor who is not a candidate for the mayoral election, has been designated as the presiding authority for the election. Chandigarh Congress president HS Lucky expressed concern over the delay in holding the fifth mayoral elections. "The election date should have been announced much earlier so that the last mayor gets enough time to work. This mayor won't get even 10 months to work as the election code of conduct will come into force in October for the next municipal elections," Lucky said. He asked, "What work can be expected of a mayor in such a short tenure?" Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) state president Vijaypal Singh echoed similar views. He said, "The deliberate delay in conducting the mayoral elections is a well-planned strategy of the BJP to facilitate political manipulation, horse-trading, and backroom deals. This is nothing but a direct assault on democratic values."...