Chandigarh, Jan. 7 -- With the city just three weeks away from electing its next mayor on January 29, the ties between INDIA bloc partners Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) appear to be on shaky ground, giving rival BJP a potential advantage. A sharp public exchange on Tuesday exposed strain between the two allies, with AAP's Chandigarh in-charge Jarnail Singh launching a pointed attack on the Congress over alleged covert ties with the BJP, and the party firing back in a swift response. In a post on 'X', Jarnail Singh said, "On the one hand, bitter rivals; on the other hand, partners in power. The BJP having the mayor's chair in Chandigarh and the Congress holding the posts of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor is strong proof of an alliance between the BJP and the Congress. The country has now understood this sham fight of yours. This game will not last much longer." Hitting back, Chandigarh Congress president HS Lucky posted, "When in 2024 the mayor was from the AAP and the senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor were from the BJP, what kind of wrestling match were you playing then?" Just a day before, the Congress had reaffirmed its alliance with the AAP to challenge the BJP's dominance in the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation. The AAP had also agreed to follow last year's formula, under which the mayor's post will goto the AAP, while the senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor posts will be allotted to the Congress. A senior AAP leader said the party was trying to ascertain the reasons behind the AAP in-charge's post. "We are working to resolve the issue, as our priority is to keep the BJP out of the municipal corporation," the leader said. 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. The 35-member MC House comprises 18 councillors from the BJP, 11 from the AAP and six from the Congress, apart from one vote from the local MP. Despite not having a clear majority, the BJP has won the mayoral election three out of the last four years, largely due to cross-voting. Until last month it had 16 councillors, but its strength bumped up to 18 on December 24 after AAP councillors Poonam (Ward 16) and Suman Sharma (Ward 4) jumped ship. On the other side, the AAP-Congress alliance also commands 18 votes, including the vote of local MP Manish Tewari who is from the Congress. Chandigarh currently lacks an anti-defection law, allowing councillors to switch parties before elections. Consequently, party-switching and horse-trading are common before every mayoral contest. As per MC's five-year rotation system, the fifth term is open to candidates from the generalcategory....