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Chandigarh mayor Harpreet Kaur Babla’s report card: Of fiscal rescue, flagship failures
As Harpreet Kaur Babla completes her maiden year-long tenure as the mayor of Chandigarh, Hindustan Times assesses her term to find it a study in contrasts.
BJP’s Harpreet Kaur Babla, 60, pulled off a dramatic victory on January 30, 2025, defeating the AAP-Congress joint candidate, Prem Lata, by just two votes. This was despite the numbers being stacked against her; the BJP held only 16 votes against the opposition’s 20. Her win, facilitated by cross-voting from three members of the alliance, set the tone for a year of intense partisan hostility.
No stranger to the Union Territory’s complex political landscape, her transition from a homemaker to a two-time councillor was guided by her husband, Devinder Singh Babla, a former Congress heavyweight and now BJP vice-president. The Babla couple defected to the BJP in early 2022, just days after Harpreet won her seat on a Congress ticket. This background shaped her leadership style: A blend of maternal authority and the “strict school teacher” persona she adopted to manage a hostile House where her party was technically in minority.
The daughter of a retired army colonel, she is an alumna of the Convent of Jesus and Mary, Dehradun, and holds a BA (honours) in history from Post Graduate Government College for Girls, Sector 11, Chandigarh, and an MA in English from Panjab University. She balances a high-profile public life with her role as a mother to two sons, Yudhveer and Paramveer.
Beyond the dais, Babla is known in Chandigarh’s social circles for being impeccably stylish. Whether attending a formal flag hoisting or a heated House meet, her grace and sartorial choices were noted by colleagues. When not navigating civic crises, she is an advocate for women in sports, recently highlighting Chandigarh’s efforts to empower female athletes.
Upside: From red to green
Babla’s main achievement remained the “stabilisation” of MC finances. She took over an office that was literally unable to pay its staff. Through persistent lobbying, she secured ₹125 crore from the Centre in August 2025.
She pioneered the “zero-expense” model for iconic city events. The 53rd Rose Festival and 38th Chrysanthemum Show were organised without a single rupee from the MC budget, eventually generating revenue for the first time in history.
While controversial, her revision of property taxes and water/garbage charges added nearly ₹41 crore to the coffers.
“She has been very persistent,” Punjab governor and UT administrator Gulab Chand Kataria said, noting her habit of knocking on his door every few days to push for the city’s interests.
The MC’s public-private partnerships (PPP) and advertising ventures are expected to generate around ₹75 crore annually through projects like maintenance of roundabouts and advertising unipoles. In addition, the MC is expected to generate ₹25 crore annually through new monthly parking passes set to launch soon.
Babla provided relief to 1,041 street vendors whose licences had been cancelled, allowing them to clear arrears in three instalments—a decision that has already pumped ₹2.53 crore into the MC coffers, with another ₹6 crore expected by March 2026.
During her tenure, the proceedings of the monthly House meetings also started being streamed live online to promote transparency.
Downside: Water to waste
Despite her financial acumen, her performance took a hit when it came to long-term engineering projects. The French-funded 24x7 water supply project has become a multi-crore liability. With costs escalating to ₹1700 crore and a failed pilot in Manimajra, the project is currently mired in a performance audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General.
The Dadumajra dump remains a work in progress. Despite claims of 95% clearance, the project has missed five consecutive deadlines.
Contentious chapter
In August 2025, Babla’s decision to transfer V3 roads to the UT Administration for re-carpeting sparked a political firestorm. While she framed the move as a fiscal necessity to ensure timely repairs, the AAP-Congress alliance slammed it as a “surrender of civic assets.” The standoff peaked in a high-drama House meeting where the mayor summoned marshals to forcibly evict protesting opposition councillors. Despite the chaos, the agenda was pushed through, marking one of the most contentious chapters of her term.
She used a blend of authority and sharp one-liners to maintain order. When debates grew heated, she frequently silenced opposition benches with retorts like, “Aap log chahate nahi hain shahar ka vikas ho? (Don’t you want the city to develop?)” or a blunt, “Prem Lata ji, mayor aap hain ki main? (Prem Lata ji, are you the Mayor or am I?).” While her assertive style ensured discipline, it also provided a rare touch of entertainment during otherwise fractious House meetings.
Opposition verdict
Voicing their review of her performance, Congress councillor Gurpreet Singh Gabi noted that while Babla made efforts, her term was overshadowed by the 24/7 water project failure and failure to address the Dadumajra dump issue.
AAP’s Yogesh Dhingra dismissed the year entirely, claiming city works remained stalled and residents were left with nothing but “bumpy roads”.
