BJP leader Manoj Sonkar was elected Chandigarh mayor on Tuesday amid outrage in the Opposition ranks. Eight out of 36 votes were declared invalid during the contest with Opposition leaders accusing the ruling party of forgery and manipulation. The AAP-Congress grouping has indicated plans to take the matter before the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Sonkar polled 16 out of 36 votes on Monday to secure the top post while INDIA bloc candidate Kuldeep Singh secured 12 votes. Eight votes — attributed to the Opposition group were declared invalid.
The Chandigarh Municipal Corporation has 35 members as well as an ex-officio member with voting rights — a post currently held by BJP MP Kirron Kher. The AAP presently has 13 councillors while the Congress has seven. The BJP has 14 lawmakers while the Shiromani Akali Dal holds the final seat in the House.
“For the first time in the Chandigarh mayor elections — eight out of the 36 votes were declared invalid. Congress and AAP alliance had to get 20 votes. We got 12 votes and eight were declared invalid. Not a single vote of the BJP was declared invalid…We are worried as to what will happen in the upcoming 2024 polls. If the BJP can resort to such low levels and commit forgery and illegality…BJP can go to any level to rig the election process,” said AAP MP Raghav Chadha.
“This is robbery. There are 36 Councillor seats in Chandigarh out of which 14 seats are BJPs. 13 seats are AAPs and seven seats of Congress. Total AAP (13 + 7) has 20 seats…BJP has been exposed again…” added fellow party leader Saurabh Bhardwaj.
Leaders from the saffron party meanwhile hailed the results as a “victory of democracy and the defeat of ‘thagbandhan’ of AAP and Congress”. Party chief JP Nadda asserted that the defeat of the INDIA bloc “shows that neither their arithmetic is working nor their chemistry”.
“The manner in which dishonesty has been done in broad daylight in the Chandigarh Mayor elections is extremely worrying. If these people can stoop so low in a mayor’s election, then they can go to any extent in the country’s elections. This is very worrying,” AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal posted on X.
Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring shared a video on social media to assert that a ‘senior bureaucrat was manipulating the votes’.
“Today will be written and remembered as a ‘black day’ in the democracy of our country. Unfortunately, this is the same month when we celebrate Republic Day. Today, Constitution has been shredded. The manner in which Chandigarh mayor election was ‘looted’ by the BJP before the media, in front of the cameras. They did this in Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, northeastern states before this. So, this is their old habit…” added Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.
(With inputs from agencies)
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Published: 30 Jan 2024, 05:15 PM IST
