BJP to pick new Chandigarh unit chief on Jan 15

The race for the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Chandigarh president’s post has intensified with the party set to declare the local unit’s new leader on Wednesday.

Although the current city president, Jatinder Malhotra, appointed in October 2023, has not completed his three-year term, the nomination process for the Chandigarh president and National Council members will take place as part of BJP’s ongoing organisational elections, Sangathan Parv.

While Malhotra may retain his position, as per party insiders, he faces strong competition from several high-profile contenders, including former mayor Davesh Moudgil, ex-district president Munish Bhasin, general secretary Amit Jindal, and vice presidents Ramvir Bhatti and Shakti Devshali.

Malhotra’s tenure is likely to be scrutinised in the wake of the party’s recent loss in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. In a tight contest, BJP’s Sanjay Tandon was defeated by INDIA bloc’s Manish Tewari by just 2,504 votes.

Notably, Tandon holds the record for the longest tenure as city BJP chief, serving from January 18, 2010, to January 17, 2020. In January 2020, Arun Sood succeeded him as president for a three-year term, before Malhotra took over in October 2023.

Narinder Singh Raina, a senior BJP MLA from Jammu and Kashmir and the party’s national secretary, will serve as the returning officer for the elections on Wednesday. Raina is also the state co-in-charge for Punjab.

Dharinder Tayal, BJP Chandigarh’s chief spokesperson, stated that nominations will be filed on Wednesday and the president will be declared by evening.