The aam aadmi party (AAP) approached the punjab and haryana high court requesting it to conduct fresh chandigarh mayor elections under the supervision of a retired judge. bjp won the chandigarh Mayor elections and retained the hold of three top posts. This is being seen as a setback for the aam aadmi party and congress, which are contesting the elections together.
As soon as the results for the post of Mayor were declared, councilors from two parties of the opposition alliance 'Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance' (India) created a ruckus in the chandigarh Municipal Corporation house and boycotted the next phase - elections for the posts of Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor. . bharatiya janata party (BJP) candidate Manoj Sonkar won by defeating Congress-backed Aam Aadmi Party's kuldeep Kumar. Sonkar got 16 votes while Kumar got 12 votes.
Eight votes were declared invalid. bjp candidates Kuljeet Sandhu and Rajinder Sharma were declared elected for the posts of Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor respectively. Opposition councilors alleged that ballot papers were tampered with in the elections. bjp rejected this allegation. Taking to social media, AAP chief arvind kejriwal expressed “serious concern” over the “fraud committed in broad daylight”. An AAP councilor said that the party will approach the punjab and haryana High Court. After the postponement on january 18, Tuesday's elections were also held on the instructions of the High Court. AAP and congress accused Presiding Officer Anil Masih of making some marks on the ballot papers during counting, rendering them invalid. He argued that “invalid” ballot papers tilted the balance in favor of the bjp candidate.
congress leader Pawan Kumar Bansal alleged, “The fear of blatant tampering in the chandigarh Mayor elections by the bjp councilor-presiding officer as part of a well-planned conspiracy to kill democracy has proved true.” He claimed that Congress-AAP agents were not allowed to scrutinize the ballot papers. He alleged, “The presiding officer announced the rejection of eight votes, declared the bjp candidate the winner and walked away. bjp members ran towards the table and tore the ballot papers.” congress councilor Gurbaksh Rawat alleged that when the ballot box was opened for counting, the presiding officer did not call the party's election agent. “We do not accept the result,” he said. AAP councilor prem Lata said that they will approach the high court against the result. Another councilor said, “We were cheated. There were no free and fair elections.”
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