Rajesh Kalia of the BJP was on Friday elected as the new Mayor of Chandigarh Municipal Corporation after he defeated the party’s rebel candidate Satish Kainth.

While the elections to the corporation are held every five years, the election to the post of Mayor is held every year.

This year’s election had caught attention due to infighting within the party. Out of the total 27 votes, Mr. Kalia secured 16 votes to win the post of Mayor. Mr. Kainth, the rebel candidate, got 11 votes. Ahead of the election, the Congress candidate, Sheela Devi, had withdrawn her name from the mayoral race.

The Chandigarh Municipal Corporation has 26 elected councillors and nine nominated members. Out of the elected members, 20 are from the BJP, which has majority in the corporation. The Congress has four councillors while the one councillor is from the Akali Dal and the other one an Independent. The nominated members do not vote in a mayoral election. MP Kirron Kher also has a vote being an ex officio member of the House.