NEWSMAKERS OF 2024

While Chandigarh got a new UT administrator in Gulab Chand Kataria and MP in Manish Tewari, Panchkula and Kalka elected Chander Mohan and Shakti Rani Sharma, respectively, as their representatives. The year also saw mayoral poll presiding officer Anil Masih’s fall from grace besides legal proceedings in high-profile crimes over relationship disputes carried out in cold blood.

As 2024 draws to a close, Hindustan Times kicks off a three-part series taking a relook at the personalities from Chandigarh and its neighbouring districts of Panchkula and Mohali who dominated the headlines, for the right and wrong reasons.

view of open hand in Chandigarh, . File Photo

Gulab Chand Kataria, Punjab governor and UT administrator

Collaborator with iron fist in velvet glove

Since his tenure as Punjab governor and Chandigarh administrator began in July, Gulab Chand Kataria, 80, has been on the go, from approving critical projects, such as the Green Corridor, to reconsidering the Sector 53 housing scheme, and even directing officers to explore alternatives for obtaining environmental clearance for another shelved initiative — the IT Park housing scheme at Rajiv Gandhi Chandigarh Technology Park (RGCTP) — which was halted due to ecological concerns.

He has ensured that Punjab’s AAP government and the Centre collaborate effectively. His firm stance on sensitive issues, such as power privatisation, including invoking the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA), reflects decisive governance. Despite inheriting challenges from his predecessor, Banwarilal Purohit, Kataria has taken a measured approach to addressing them.

Getting the Chandigarh Congress ticket was no mean feat for he had to fight opposition from ex-Union minister and former MP Pawan Kumar Bansal, who was also an aspirant. Bansal steered clear of the Congress campaign after Tewari got the ticket.

In Parliament, Tewari has been a key speaker of the party, particularly on international issues; and was recently included as opposition MP on the joint parliamentary committee on ‘one nation one election’, along with Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi.

Chandigarh has found a voice in the Lok Sabha with Tewari raising concerns, including the five legacy issues of share-wise sale of property, ownership rights of people living in resettlement colonies, extension of Lal Dora, and need-based changes in Chandigarh Housing Board structures. During the recent winter session, he took up the issues of the Panjab University senate elections, tricity expansion and status of the Metro project.

However, he is finding the going tough on the home front, where he is struggling to get his poll promises of 20,000 litres of free water to each household every month and 300 units of free power to those having monthly income less than ₹20,000 and no new taxes implemented. The Congress, in alliance with the AAP, did try to implement its free water promise but the decision was vetoed by the Chandigarh administration.

Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor, Chandigarh mayor and AAP councillor

After tough climb, it’s lonely at the top

Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor, 40, a national-level kabbadi player, had to wait with bated breath before he could become Chandigarh mayor on the Supreme Court’s orders early this year.

Dhalor rose from a humble sanitation worker to become a councillor in 2021 and went on to make history by being the first non-Congress, non-BJP mayor of Chandigarh.

Though Dhalor had a long list of populist promises for Chandigarh residents, including free water, free parking and shifting of the proposed solid waste plant from Dadumajra, he couldn’t deliver on any as his one-year tenure nears its end.

Instead, he faced a backlash from councillors of all parties as all development works in Chandigarh have been held up since May due to the financial crisis. His efforts to garner special grants did not bear fruit. An unpopular Dhalor struggled to get support from his own party councillors as they openly challenged his efforts.

Dhalor had also cried foul over MC officers not responding to his queries. To his credit, he raised concerns over hiring outstation employees in the MC rather than giving preference to Chandigarh residents.

Beyond politics, he runs a tent and catering business with his brother and also works as a property dealer in Dadumajra. His wife is a homemaker and the couple has two children.

Anil Masih, councillor and former UT mayoral poll presiding officer

Returning officer who murdered democracy

Anil Masih, 54, a nominated councillor in Chandigarh, was appointed as the presiding officer for the crucial mayoral elections in January 2024. The polls turned controversial when Masih attempted to deface eight ballots cast in favour of Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor, the AAP-Congress alliance candidate, in a bid to secure victory for BJP councillor Manoj Sonkar. The final count stood at 16 votes for Sonkar and 12 for Dhalor, despite the AAP and Congress collectively holding 20 councillors in the House.

The irregularity was caught on camera, with visuals of Masih tampering with ballots spreading rapidly across media platforms. The shocking footage became key evidence as the AAP and Congress moved the Supreme Court, alleging rigging. The incident drew nationwide attention, prompting then Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud to say, “He is murdering democracy. Is this the way an officer has to conduct elections? We are appalled by his conduct.”

Masih has been a key member of the Chandigarh BJP for nearly a decade now. Later, this election became a national issue with the Congress and other parties raking it up in the Lok Sabha elections. The case is pending in the Supreme Court.

Masih had decidedly less officious beginnings: His first job was as a marketing executive with a pressure cooker company, which was followed by a role as a marketing executive with a water purifier company, both in Chandigarh. A practising member of the Church of North India (CNI), he is now completely “dedicated to politics”. Originally from Ambala, his father shifted to Chandigarh after he got a job at the Punjab Engineering College in Sector 12. Masih studied at a government school in Sector 11 and graduated from DAV College in Sector 10. His wife works as a manager at a girls’ hostel affiliated with a college and the couple along with their two sons stays on the campus.

Malwinder Singh Sidhu, Punjab Police ex-AIG

Punjab cop who turned criminal

Former assistant inspector general (AIG) of Punjab Police Malwinder Singh Sidhu, 59, pulled the trigger on his son-in-law Harprit Singh, an Indian Civil Account Services (ICAS) officer, at the mediation centre of the Chandigarh district courts complex on August 3.

“I shot him in a fit of rage,” Sidhu said, alleging that Harprit had orchestrated a series of cases against him, leading to his suspension and a tarnished career.

The incident occurred when Harprit was escorting Sidhu to the washroom during the mediation session in a protracted marital dispute case. Harprit had reportedly demanded that Sidhu sign a compromise deed to settle all litigation against him by Sidhu’s family. Harprit threatened Sidhu with more cases if he refused, leading to an argument that triggered the shooting after a scuffle.

Sidhu accused Harprit of leveraging his influence to get four corruption and extortion cases registered against him over the past year. Sidhu claimed the accusations surfaced only after Harprit faced criminal charges in the marital dispute.

Kalyani Singh, accused in Sippy Sidhu murder case

Judge’s daughter on wrong side of law

“My only fault is that I fell in love with the wrong man,” says Kalyani Singh, 40, accused of murdering national-level shooter

and former boyfriend Sukhmanpreet Singh, alias Sippy Sidhu, at a Sector 27 park on September 20, 2015 after he spurned her marriage proposal. The CBI court framed charges against Kalyani, the daughter of former Punjab and Haryana high court judge justice Sabina, in May. Special CBI judge Alka Malik ordered day-to-day hearings till the conclusion of trial.

At present, Kalyani is out on bail and works as a diet consultant after her services as a contractual assistant professor at Post Graduate College for Girls, Sector 42, were terminated.

When the CBI took over the case in 2016, it found Kalyani was in a relationship with Sippy, but they fell out after he refused to marry her. Sippy had also shared her objectionable photos among friends and family members, leaving her hurt and humiliated.

Chander Mohan, Panchkula Congress MLA

Panchkula’s ‘prince’ dons crown of thorns

After a decade-long political hiatus, former Haryana deputy chief minister Chander Mohan was back with a bang as he made it to the assembly as the Panchkula MLA though his party, the Congress, suffered a shock defeat. Riding on his father Bhajan Lal’s vision of developing Chandigarh’s satellite town as the ‘Paris of Haryana’, Chander Mohan defeated BJP’s Gian Chand Gupta by 1,900-odd votes.

This is his fifth term as MLA as he represented Kalka for four terms from 1993 to 2005. An alumnus of Lawrence School, Sanawar, and arts graduate from Panjab University, Chander Mohan, who stays in Sector 8, Panchkula, is known to be approachable. His wife Seema, son Siddharth, daughter Damini and daughter-in-law Satakshi campaigned door-to-door to ensure his victory.

His please-all manifesto listed the relocation of the garbage dump from Jhuriwala and the town’s Sector 23, extension of the tricity Metro network to Barwala and the rehabilitation of slums as priorities. These are his biggest challenges, too.

Shakti Rani Sharma, Kalka BJP MLA

She draws power from family’s political legacy

From being elected as the first woman mayor of Ambala to becoming the Kalka BJP MLA barely a month after joining the party in September, Shakti Rani Sharma, 71, draws power from her family’s political legacy. The wife of former Haryana minister Venod Sharma and the mother of Rajya Sabha member Kartikeya Sharma, Shakti Rani became a force to reckon with after she wrested Kalka from two-time MLA Pardeep Chaudhary with a victory margin of more than 10,000 votes, silencing critics and doubters who had trolled her for being an outsider.

Shakti Rani’s eldest son, Siddharth Vashisht, alias Manu Sharma, was convicted in the infamous Jessica Lal murder case in Delhi in April 1999 and released from jail in June 2020. Though Manu stayed behind the scenes during her high-profile campaign in October, she craftily coined the slogan, ‘MLA Ke Saath MP free’.

In her manifesto, she listed eradicating drugs as her priority and also promised the revival of the HMT unit at Pinjore. She vowed to use sports as a medium to empower women, based on her experience with the women’s cricket association.

A matriculate from St Joseph’s Convent Girls Senior Secondary School, Jabalpur, she has shares in properties owned by her husband. Though proactive while campaigning, the Ambala-based family is yet to act on its promises.