Senior BJP leader and National Council Member Sanjay Tandon on Thursday entered the debate over reforming Chandigarh’s mayoral tenure system, proposing a structured five-year governance cycle that reserves two years for a woman mayor, one year for a Scheduled Caste (SC) representative and two years for a general category mayor, while firmly rejecting Chandigarh Congress MP Manish Tewari’s opposition to an extended tenure as misplaced.
Tandon’s framework, pitched as a balanced and inclusive alternative, would reduce the number of mayoral elections in a five-year MC term from five to three, cutting down political churn and ensuring greater administrative continuity in the city.
“A structured five-year cycle with two years for women, one year for Scheduled Castes and two years for the General category will ensure balanced participation of all sections of society. At the same time, it will reduce the number of mayoral elections from five to three, thereby ensuring greater continuity and administrative stability,” Tandon told The Tribune
He argued that a two-year term would give a woman Mayor adequate time to grasp complex civic issues, formulate policy and deliver results, while even a one-year term for a Scheduled Caste Mayor would remain productive, given that the development momentum and governance agenda would continue seamlessly from the preceding tenure. A subsequent two-year term for a General category mayor, he said, would consolidate and advance ongoing civic reforms and development projects.
Tandon took direct aim at Tewari, who had on Wednesday told The Tribune that the Chandigarh Administration’s proposal to extend the Mayor’s term to two and a half years was “a terrible idea” and “cosmetic” reform that would only entrench bureaucratic control. “A two-and-a-half-year tenure model would make it difficult to accommodate all major social categories adequately and fairly,” Tandon countered, implicitly defending an extended, if differently structured, tenure over the status quo of annual elections.
The remarks came after The Tribune first reported that the UT Administration had formally submitted a duly vetted proposal to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) seeking an amendment in Section 38 of the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act, 1976, to extend the tenure of the Mayor, Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor from one year to two and a half years each. Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria confirmed the proposal, disclosing that Home Minister Amit Shah had assured him it would be examined and approved at the appropriate level.
Tewari, who had introduced a private member’s Bill in the Lok Sabha in December 2025 seeking a directly elected Mayor with a full five-year term and a sweeping transfer of powers from the UT Administrator to an elected Mayor-in-Council, had described the Administration’s proposal as perpetuating “the tyranny of the bureaucracy.”
The next Chandigarh MC elections are due in December 2026.
