Mayor Aarti Bhandari, 10 councillors join BJP ahead of Uttarakhand Assembly polls

Srinagar Municipal Corporation Mayor Aarti Bhandari, her husband Lakhpat Bhandari and 10 councillors joined the BJP in Dehradun on Wednesday, strengthening the ruling party's position in the civic body months before Uttarakhand heads towards the 2027 Assembly elections.

The induction took place at the BJP's state headquarters in the presence of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, state BJP president Mahendra Bhatt and Cabinet Minister and Srinagar MLA Dhan Singh Rawat.

Among the 10 councillors who switched sides were two from the Congress, making the development a setback for the Opposition party in the Srinagar Garhwal region.

Independent Mayor joins BJP

Bhandari had contested the 2025 municipal elections as an Independent after emerging as a BJP rebel and went on to defeat the party's official candidate Asha Upadhyay. She secured 7,956 votes against Upadhyay's 6,317, winning the mayoral contest by 1,639 votes. Her victory made her the first Mayor of the newly formed Srinagar Municipal Corporation.

The BJP had otherwise performed strongly in the civic elections, winning 16 of the corporation's 40 wards. Independents secured 18 seats, while the Congress won six. Bhandari's entry into the BJP, accompanied by a sizeable group of councillors, could therefore significantly alter the political balance within the municipal corporation. Her husband, Lakhpat Bhandari, a former district panchayat member, also formally joined the ruling party at Wednesday's event.

Dhami welcomes new entrants

Welcoming Bhandari and the councillors into the party, BJP leaders projected the inductions as evidence of growing support for the state government's policies and the party's development agenda.

The development assumes political significance because Srinagar is represented in the Uttarakhand Assembly by Cabinet Minister Dhan Singh Rawat, a senior BJP leader.

With the next Assembly election expected in early 2027, both the BJP and Congress have begun strengthening their organisations and consolidating support across constituencies.

Bhandari's move gives the BJP an important local political figure who demonstrated her electoral strength by defeating the party's own nominee only last year.

BJP strengthens civic position

The 2025 municipal election had produced a fragmented Srinagar corporation. Independents collectively emerged as the largest group with 18 councillors, compared with the BJP's 16 and Congress's six.

The latest defections are therefore important not merely as party inductions but for their potential impact on the functioning and political alignment of the corporation.

The BJP had dominated Uttarakhand's municipal elections overall, winning the mayoral contests in 10 of the state's 11 municipal corporations. Srinagar was the exception, where Bhandari's Independent candidature denied the party a clean sweep.

Her decision to join the BJP now effectively brings the Srinagar Mayor into the ruling party's fold.

Focus shifts to 2027 polls

The political movement comes as Uttarakhand approaches another electoral cycle. The BJP, which has governed the state since 2017, will seek a third consecutive term in the 2027 Assembly elections.

Srinagar Garhwal is expected to remain an important constituency for the ruling party, particularly with Rawat representing the seat and serving in the Dhami Cabinet.

The induction of Bhandari, her husband and the councillors gives the BJP additional organisational strength at the municipal level as political activity begins to gather pace ahead of the Assembly contest.

For Bhandari, the move also marks a return to the BJP fold after she fought the municipal election as a rebel and defeated its official mayoral candidate.

Wednesday's development consequently closes an unusual political circle in Srinagar: the Independent candidate who prevented the BJP from winning the mayoral post in 2025 will now head the city's municipal corporation as a member of the ruling party.