Indirect Victory

The Bhupesh Baghel government’s gambit to hold indirect elections to urban local bodies (ULBs) has paid off. The Congress, which had won just four of the 10 municipal corporations in 2014, is set to control nine now, perhaps even bagging the tenth if behind-the-scenes negotiations work out.Ten municipal corporations, 38 municipalities and 103 nagar panchayats went to the polls on December 21. The last three polls to ULBs were held through the direct format, with the electorate voting for corporators and the head of the urban body (mayors in municipal corporations and chairpersons of municipalities and nagar panchayats) directly.The state government had amended the Chhattisgarh Municipal Corporation Act, 1956 and the Chhattisgarh Municipalities Act, 1961 in October 2019, the result of which was that heads of ULBs were now to be elected by corporators. Elections were held to choose corporators only.The decision was criticised by the BJP, which felt that indirect elections would promote horse trading and corporators being swayed by the ruling party. The decision was also opposed by the bureaucracy. In indirect elections, the mayor or chairperson is at the mercy of corporators, who could threaten them with withdrawal of support. Also, it slows down the process of decision-making, says a senior civil servant in Chhattisgarh..preferred-source-banner{ margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:10px;}In the 10 municipal corporations that went to the polls, the Congress won an absolute majority in Ambikapur, Chirmiri and Jagdalpur; won half the wards in Bilaspur, Raigarh and Durg; and was the single-largest party in the Raipur, Dhamtari and Rajnandgaon corporations. In Korba, though, the BJP won more wards, but fell short of a majority on its own.The Congress is not acknowledging the role of indirect elections in its victory. It is a result of the work done by the Baghel government...it’s also a rejection of the politics of the BJP, says Shailesh N. Trivedi, state Congress spokesperson.BJP state chief Vikram Usendi, however, said a clear majority for the Congress in only three corporations reflects the unpopularity of the Baghel government in its first year itself.Published By: Iram Ara IbrahimPublished On: Jan 3, 2020--- ENDS ---

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Indirect Victory

The state urban bodies' election favours Baghel's Congress government.

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