On February 20, a three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud used its plenary powers to declare Kuldeep Kumar, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate, as the validly elected Mayor of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation. With CCTV visuals indicating that the presiding officer had defaced some ballot papers in the mayoral polls, the Supreme Court conducted a physical examination of the ballots to determine the winner. The Court observed that in such cases it is duty-bound to intervene under Article 142 of the Constitution to ensure that “democracy is not allowed to be thwarted by such subterfuges”.
However, just before the Court’s verdict, three AAP councillors from Chandigarh joined the BJP. With the help of these defections, BJP candidates won the elections to the posts of deputy and senior deputy Mayor held on March 4. With the BJP now having a majority in the council and the Mayor possessing limited independent powers, the INDIA alliance has essentially lost control over the municipal corporation.
The shenanigans in Chandigarh raise multiple questions regarding local democracy: the fair administration of local elections; the problem of local-level defections; and the challenge of ensuring democratic governance in Union Territories (UTs).
