Chandigarh | The Aam Aadmi Party on Thursday blamed the Congress for the shock defeat of its candidate for the post of mayor in the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation election that took place here.

It alleged that some of the Congress councillors indulged in cross-voting, resulting in BJP's Harpreet Kaur Babla being elected as the new mayor in the high-stakes election.

BJP's Babla secured 19 votes while AAP's Prem Lata got 17 votes.

The defeat of the AAP-Congress alliance came despite both parties having 20 votes in the 35-member House. A total of 19 votes are required to win the poll.

The AAP was fighting for the post of mayor while the Congress was contesting for the posts of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor. The AAP-backed Congress candidates won both the posts.

Reacting to the poll outcome, AAP senior leader and spokesperson Neel Garg accused Congress councillors of cross-voting. The Congress councillors betrayed us, he said.

He added that the Congress and the BJP acted in collusion. "This incident has made it completely clear. Both are two sides of the same coin," he said.

"The AAP councillors supported the Congress nominees. Their deputy mayor and senior deputy mayor were elected with our votes," he said.

Garg appealed to the people of Delhi not to vote for the Congress in the February 5 Assembly polls. "We want to tell voters of Delhi that they should not waste their votes by voting for Congress."

Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said the Congress and the BJP formed an "unethical alliance" for the mayoral elections.

"Instead of honouring their alliance with AAP, @INCIndia stabbed us in the back and formed an 'unethical' alliance with @BJP4India for these posts," he said on X.

"The real reason behind this alliance is the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections, where AAP's victory is certain due to massive public support and the politics of work. Out of fear, these two parties -- limited to divisive politics -- are resorting to such tricks, but they will never succeed," he said.

Cheema said, "We fulfilled our duty, which is why Congress candidates were elected to the posts of deputy mayor and senior deputy mayor. Congress has betrayed us. Congress councillors indulged in cross-voting, leading to BJP's Mayor being elected."

Dhamtari | The nomination paper of Vijay Golchha, the Congress' candidate for mayoral post in Dhamtari Municipal Corporation, was rejected on Thursday, an official said.

The BJP had raised objection over the nomination of Golchha claiming he is a contractor registered with Dhamtari Municipal Corporation and beneficiary of the civic body.

"The nomination of the Congress candidate has been cancelled under section 17-2 of Municipal Corporation Act 1956 according to which the candidate should not have any interest in the municipal corporation. At present, Vijay Golchha is a registered contractor with the corporation. Hence it is not desirable for a mayoral candidate," Returning Officer Indira Dehari said.

Sources said Golchha had in the past received a contract from the civic body to supply high mast lights, adding that some payment is still pending for the work.

Kavindra Jain, the poll agent of Jagdish Ramu Rohra, who is the BJP candidate for the mayoral post, submitted an objection against Golchha.

The Returning Officer on Wednesday asked both the parties to present their sides.

After a hearing during the day, the Returning Officer found the objections valid and declared the nomination of Golchha illegal.

Reacting to the development, state Congress chief Dipak Baij slammed the ruling BJP.

"The ideology which killed Mahatma Gandhi has once again murdered democracy in Dhamtari on Thursday. The BJP is misusing government machinery in the local body elections. The BJP is hatching conspiracies to prevent Congress candidates from contesting elections," Baij said.

"The nomination form of Golchha was cancelled at the behest of Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai. Golchha is a registered contractor with the Public Works Department, not the Dhamtari Municipal Corporation. He had taken work in Dhamtari corporation a year ago which was completed at that time. He had also taken no objection certificate from the corporation," Baij claimed.

The Dhamtari collector acted like the agent of the BJP and cancelled Golchha's nomination illegally, he alleged.

Elections to 173 civic bodies, comprising 10 municipal corporations, 49 municipal councils and 114 nagar panchayats, will be held in a single phase on February 11.

Nominations for civic bodies elections began from January 22 and the last date for the nomination was January 28. Scrutiny of nominations was held on Wednesday and the last date for withdrawal of nominations is January 31.