Thursday’s polls will also see the election of a new senior deputy Mayor and deputy Mayor.

Apart from the 13 councillors, the vote of Union Minister of State for Finance Pawan Bansal will also be in favour of the Congress.

If Kamlesh is elected, it will be her second stint as mayor after 2004. H C Kalyan is the Congress candidate for the post of senior deputy mayor and Vijay Rana for that of deputy mayor. The BJP-Akali combine will field Ram Lal as the mayoral candidate, Gurnam Singh as the senior deputy mayor and Rajesh Kumar Gupta as the deputy mayor.

The BJP has six councillors, Akali Dal two and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) four councillors in the House. Of the nine nominated councillors, one will remain absent during voting.

The BSP has decided to abstain from voting in favour of the BJP and the Congress. They will only support Gurnam Singh, who belongs to the Akali Dal. The BSP’s decision has tilted the scales in favour of the Congress and it is likely to be a comfortable win for Kamlesh, according to observers.

The mayor’s post was reserved for a scheduled caste candidate this year.

With less than 24 hours to go, the parties are making their last-ditch efforts to woo the nominated councillors, who will be playing a significant role in the elections. The polls are important for all parties as the Lok Sabha elections, too, are round the corner.

Members of the Balmiki community, meanwhile, expressed resentment over the Congress’ decision to not consider a Balmiki councillor for the post of mayor. They also opposed to the candidature of Kamlesh, alleging that a vigilance inquiry was pending against her.