Chandigarh, Oct. 6 -- Claiming that they did not receive a proper personal invitation from the mayor, several BJP councillors skipped the 118th All India Mayors' Conference on Monday, raising eyebrows as election to the General House of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation are only two months away. Senior deputy mayor Jasmanpreet Singh and deputy mayor Suman Sharma were among the prominent absentees. Former BJP mayor Harpreet Kaur Babla turned up, but she left early.

Among those present were former two-time Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher, Chandigarh BJP president Jatinder Pal Malhotra, and former city BJP chief Sanjay Tandon.

Requesting anonymity, a few BJP councillors said they were not personally involved in preparations for the conference...